An Australian Government department has been fined $140,000 after a nine-year-old child suffered second-degree burns when their hands caught fire while interacting with a plasma globe at Canberra’s Questacon science and technology centre.
The Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR), which includes Questacon, pleaded guilty in the ACT Magistrates Court to a Category 2 offence under the Commonwealth WHS Act. The department admitted it had exposed visitors to a risk of death or serious injury.
The incident occurred in July 2022 when a visiting child applied alcohol-based hand sanitiser provided by Questacon before touching a plasma globe. A spark from the globe ignited the sanitiser, causing burns to the child’s hands, wrists and fingers, as well as a blister to their forearm.
Comcare’s investigation found that the risk was not only foreseeable but had already been identified. Five other safety incidents involving the plasma globes had occurred in the five months before the child was injured. These included a February 2022 near miss in which a staff member recognised that the combination of hand sanitiser and metal could cause sparks, while in another incident a visitor had been shocked by a globe.
The court heard that Questacon had initially made alcohol-based sanitiser available because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the earlier incidents, adequate controls were not implemented before the July 2022 incident.
DISR admitted that reasonably practicable measures should have been taken to eliminate or minimise the risk. These included arranging the globes so they could only be used under the supervision of trained workers, replacing alcohol-based sanitiser with a non-alcohol-based alternative or providing soap and water, and warning visitors not to use flammable substances before touching the globes.
Comcare CEO Colin Radford said the risk presented by the combination of plasma globes and alcohol-based sanitiser was “significant and obvious”.
The case highlights the importance of acting on warning signs rather than treating incidents and near misses as isolated events. Interactive facilities present particular challenges because visitors may have varying levels of knowledge, experience and understanding of hazards and this must be considered in developing safety systems.
Operators of public and educational facilities must ensure that where hazards are identified, controls must be implemented promptly and reviewed for effectiveness. Providing safety information, restricting access, using safer alternatives and ensuring appropriate supervision can all form part of a proactive approach to managing risks.
Read more: Department fined over Questacon burns incident | Comcare