Toddlers served industrial cleaning fluid instead of water by blundering restaurant are taken to hospital with chemical burns
Two toddlers had to be treated in hospital after being mistakenly served industrial cleaning fluid instead of water at a restaurant.
One-year-old Daniel Martin began coughing violently after gulping from a beaker in the incident at a Toby Carvery.
His parents Phil and Claire Martin raised the alarm after they sipped the drink and found it tasted of bleach.
The child’s cup had been accidentally filled with a chemical used to clean pipes, which had been left in an unmarked jug and was picked up by the waiting staff.
Daniel was taken to hospital after the discovery and was treated for chemical burns to his mouth and throat. The family had been visiting friends Stuart and Diane Watkinson, whose daughter Sophie, 16 months, also drank from a contaminated cup and needed hospital treatment.
Both families are now demanding a guarantee from the dining chain that the mix-up can never be repeated.
One-year-old Daniel Martin began coughing violently after gulping from a beaker in the incident at a Toby Carvery.
His parents Phil and Claire Martin raised the alarm after they sipped the drink and found it tasted of bleach.
The child’s cup had been accidentally filled with a chemical used to clean pipes, which had been left in an unmarked jug and was picked up by the waiting staff.
Daniel was taken to hospital after the discovery and was treated for chemical burns to his mouth and throat. The family had been visiting friends Stuart and Diane Watkinson, whose daughter Sophie, 16 months, also drank from a contaminated cup and needed hospital treatment.
Both families are now demanding a guarantee from the dining chain that the mix-up can never be repeated.
Last night, Mrs Martin, 37, a welfare adviser, described how she and her tram driver husband, Stuart, 35, had been at the table with Daniel and sister Rebekah, four.
‘When Daniel began to cough we were encouraging him to sip more water, which was obviously just making it worse,’ said Mrs Martin, from Bury.
‘At the same time, Stuart and myself took the lids off the children’s cups. I put it to my mouth and immediately it smelt like bleach.
‘The barmaid came and said: “I’m really sorry, we’ve used the pipe fluid”. I didn’t believe her at first.
‘The manager called the ambulance and gave us a bottle of the cleaner to show us and to show to the doctors.
‘We had to wait several hours for the poisons unit to run the tests.
‘The fluid in the pipes had been diluted. The doctors told us that if it was neat, it would be strong enough to dissolve tissue in the body.’
The accident happened at a Toby Carvery in Ecclesall Road South, Sheffield. Mr Watkinson said that when he took a sip of the water Sophie had been drinking he ‘couldn’t believe it’.
‘To know my child had drunk such a dangerous substance through no fault of her own made me absolutely furious.
‘A moment’s carelessness could have devastated our lives. It just doesn’t bear thinking about how things could have turned out.’
Kathryn Baines, a public liability solicitor at Irwin Mitchell, said: ‘It beggars belief that this hazardous liquid was, as we understand it, left in a water jug without any warning or hazard signs to identify it.
Pipe cleaner is a highly dangerous substance, especially if consumed, and this basic error in health and safety procedures could have had utterly devastating consequences.’
The restaurant chain, owned by leisure group Mitchells and Butlers, said staff have been retrained in cleaning practices following the incident in May.
A spokesman said: ‘We can confirm Toby Carvery has admitted liability and are currently in correspondence with Mr and Mrs Martin’s solicitors. The safety and well-being of our customers is our primary concern.’
‘When Daniel began to cough we were encouraging him to sip more water, which was obviously just making it worse,’ said Mrs Martin, from Bury.
‘At the same time, Stuart and myself took the lids off the children’s cups. I put it to my mouth and immediately it smelt like bleach.
‘The barmaid came and said: “I’m really sorry, we’ve used the pipe fluid”. I didn’t believe her at first.
‘The manager called the ambulance and gave us a bottle of the cleaner to show us and to show to the doctors.
‘We had to wait several hours for the poisons unit to run the tests.
‘The fluid in the pipes had been diluted. The doctors told us that if it was neat, it would be strong enough to dissolve tissue in the body.’
The accident happened at a Toby Carvery in Ecclesall Road South, Sheffield. Mr Watkinson said that when he took a sip of the water Sophie had been drinking he ‘couldn’t believe it’.
‘To know my child had drunk such a dangerous substance through no fault of her own made me absolutely furious.
‘A moment’s carelessness could have devastated our lives. It just doesn’t bear thinking about how things could have turned out.’
Kathryn Baines, a public liability solicitor at Irwin Mitchell, said: ‘It beggars belief that this hazardous liquid was, as we understand it, left in a water jug without any warning or hazard signs to identify it.
Pipe cleaner is a highly dangerous substance, especially if consumed, and this basic error in health and safety procedures could have had utterly devastating consequences.’
The restaurant chain, owned by leisure group Mitchells and Butlers, said staff have been retrained in cleaning practices following the incident in May.
A spokesman said: ‘We can confirm Toby Carvery has admitted liability and are currently in correspondence with Mr and Mrs Martin’s solicitors. The safety and well-being of our customers is our primary concern.’
By Paul Sim
1 komentar:
Dave, Wimbledon - do you really think that your comment is the main issue here? Are you suggesting that the childrens mothers are to blame? Perhaps the children drank all of their water or the parents forgot to bring their beakers out. My toddler throws hers out of her buggy every now and again. This happens to even the best parents Dave. Try to show a little bit of compassion, a terrible tragedy was narrowly avoided here. These are babies we are talking about after all.
Posting Komentar