Stanislawa Kmiecik
PFD Report
All Responded
Ref: 2019-0258
All 1 response received
· Deadline: 1 Nov 2019
Sent To
Response Status
Responses
1 of 1
56-Day Deadline
1 Nov 2019
All responses received
About PFD responses
Organisations named in PFD reports must respond within 56 days explaining what actions they are taking.
Source: Courts and Tribunals Judiciary
Coroner’s Concerns
(1) There is a drop of some 18 feet between the mezzanine floor and the basement shop floor below that is accessible via a gate from the shop floor where persons are free to roam
(2) There is no signage highlighting the risk of fall
(3) Whilst the area is cordoned off from the main shop floor by way of a locked mesh gate and some scaffolding type posts, it remains possible for staff and/or members of the public to access the area.
##DW<<corAddress>> Tel ##DW<<corTel>> | Fax ##DW<<corFax>> (4) Although members of staff have been told not to access this area of the shop, I remain concerned that in the absence of signage, a new or inexperienced member of staff may seek access to that area either by unlocking the gate or by climbing over the gate (as has happened in the past).
(5) If a member of staff or the public were to access the area, there remains a risk of falling from height as there is no safety netting or other safety structure below either of the two openings in the mezzanine floor.
(6) The surface area surrounding the openings is uneven and in a state of disrepair, posing a trip hazard to any member of staff or the public in the vicinity and increasing the risk of inadvertently falling from height.
(7) Further, any item that is dropped in that area, or is thrown over the gate, could fall through the opening and onto staff/members of the public below.
##DW<<corAddress>> Tel ##DW<<corTel>> | Fax ##DW<<corFax>>
(2) There is no signage highlighting the risk of fall
(3) Whilst the area is cordoned off from the main shop floor by way of a locked mesh gate and some scaffolding type posts, it remains possible for staff and/or members of the public to access the area.
##DW<<corAddress>> Tel ##DW<<corTel>> | Fax ##DW<<corFax>> (4) Although members of staff have been told not to access this area of the shop, I remain concerned that in the absence of signage, a new or inexperienced member of staff may seek access to that area either by unlocking the gate or by climbing over the gate (as has happened in the past).
(5) If a member of staff or the public were to access the area, there remains a risk of falling from height as there is no safety netting or other safety structure below either of the two openings in the mezzanine floor.
(6) The surface area surrounding the openings is uneven and in a state of disrepair, posing a trip hazard to any member of staff or the public in the vicinity and increasing the risk of inadvertently falling from height.
(7) Further, any item that is dropped in that area, or is thrown over the gate, could fall through the opening and onto staff/members of the public below.
##DW<<corAddress>> Tel ##DW<<corTel>> | Fax ##DW<<corFax>>
Responses
Response received
View full response
Dear Madam Stanislawa Kmiecik Response to Regulation Report to Prevent Future Deaths This letter is sent by way of an updated response to your Report dated 25 July 2019. The incident remains under investigation by Nottingham City Council, the competent regulatory body to enforce health and safety legislation. Nottingham City Council has not served any Notices on URBN relating to the incident which require improvements or prohibit certain activities or state of affairs. We do not wish to pre-judge the evidence that will be heard at the inquest. However, it does seem plain that the cause of the incident was almost certainly a deliberate attempt by the deceased to put herself in a position of danger and potentially take her own life. There can be no other credible explanation for the individual unsecuring the gate or climbing over the gate and then going beyond the scaffolding. No member of the public has ever attempted previously to access the area beyond the gate. In terms of the action that has been taken since the incident:
• the broken lock was replaced on Monday 15 April 2019 ;
• immediately after the incident all moveable items beyond the gate were removed and all members of staff were instructed not to access the area beyond the gate unless authorised to do so. That instruction not to access the area beyond the gate has been repeated and will cover new members of staff ;
URBN UK LTD, 24 West Street, London WC2H 9NA
Tel: +44 (0) 203 119 2905 Fax: +44 (0) 203 119 2901
• signage has been placed adjacent to the gate indicating no unauthorised access ;
• removal of all of the scaffolding and replaced with high railings throughout ;
• infilling the voids with steel plates ;
• installation of a pulley system to lower the grids to a safe height to update the visual displays ;
• authorised members of staff have been trained in the use of harnesses when working in the area beyond the gate. Harness equipment has been purchased and is stored in a locked cupboard in the display room. We trust this response satisfies the Report.
• the broken lock was replaced on Monday 15 April 2019 ;
• immediately after the incident all moveable items beyond the gate were removed and all members of staff were instructed not to access the area beyond the gate unless authorised to do so. That instruction not to access the area beyond the gate has been repeated and will cover new members of staff ;
URBN UK LTD, 24 West Street, London WC2H 9NA
Tel: +44 (0) 203 119 2905 Fax: +44 (0) 203 119 2901
• signage has been placed adjacent to the gate indicating no unauthorised access ;
• removal of all of the scaffolding and replaced with high railings throughout ;
• infilling the voids with steel plates ;
• installation of a pulley system to lower the grids to a safe height to update the visual displays ;
• authorised members of staff have been trained in the use of harnesses when working in the area beyond the gate. Harness equipment has been purchased and is stored in a locked cupboard in the display room. We trust this response satisfies the Report.
Report Sections
Investigation and Inquest
On 10 June 2019, I commenced an investigation into the death of Stanislawa Kmiecik, who died on 12 April 2019 as a result of 1a. Multiple Injuries An inquest touching her death is yet to take place.
Circumstances of the Death
Stanislawa Kmiecik entered the Urban Outfitters store in the Victoria Shopping Centre, Nottingham, on the afternoon of 12 April 2019. She made her way across the shop floor, and accessed a concrete mezzanine floor via a gate just off of the main shop floor. This area is not supposed to be accessed by members of the public, rather it is an area intended for staff to access in order to display merchandise and signage, but it is visible and was accessible from the shop floor where members of the public are free to roam. The concrete mezzanine floor has two open spaces leading to the basement shop floor approximately 18 feet below. Mrs Kmiecik entered the open space and fell to the floor below sustaining multiple injuries consistent with a fall from height. She died at the scene.
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Data sourced from Courts and Tribunals Judiciary under the Open Government Licence.