ALWAYS PRIORITISE ANY RISK

Richard Renouf Furniture and Floorcoverings Consultant

Some people say that the best way to learn is by making mistakes, but I don´t agree, as the best way is to learn - is from other people’s mistakes! BEWARE! ALWAYS PRIORITISE ANY RISKS TO YOUR CUSTOMERS

The majority of inspections I undertake are hardly a matter of life or death for the customers or the companies who have called on my services, but this call definitely was!

The lady, a mother of three young children, had been working at the kitchen table with the children playing around her when they were shocked by a sudden loud crash and the sound of smashing glass. The children screamed and flying shards of fractured glass showered over the kitchen floor - even safety glass is dangerous in such circumstances!

The kitchen had been installed for just six weeks earlier, but the Mum looked across to see the extractor hood has fallen off the wall, shattering the glass fascia and the surface of the hob. She managed to hold herself together, remove the children from harm’s way, and sweep up the debris. She then found my details online and called me, which was fortunate as I happened to be on a series of inspections in Scotland and was only about thirty miles away at the time. I could therefore visit quickly and assess the situation.

Upon arrival, I noticed that the extractor had been fitted onto a stud wall with plasterboard on both sides and insulation in the narrow cavity. It had been fixed with two screws into keyhole slots on the back panel and the bottom edge had been resting on the glass splashback behind the hob. One of the screws, complete with a metal plasterboard fixing, had pulled right out of the plasterboard. The other was still in place but tilted downwards. It was in a large hole in the facing board and the far end of the screw was held about two turns into the plasterboard on the other side of the cavity, but there was no fixing at all. A close look at the back of the hood showed four additional fixing holes that could have been utilised and the instructions did state that at least two of them should have been used and also that the security of the hood should be checked to ensure it was satisfactory.

Did the fitter have a bad day and simply forget the additional screws? I think not, as whoever thought such inadequate fixings in a plasterboard wall were good enough clearly had no concept of safety, so the idea of safety screws would hardly have been on their mind. I think the claim that will be made against the installer´s insurers (if they are insured, if not, it will become personal) will focus his or her minds in the future, and I’m only glad no-one was hurt on this occasion.

Some people say that the best way to learn is by making mistakes, but I don´t agree, as the best way is to learn - is from other people’s mistakes!

I do hope that this, sadly true story, will help to ensure that you always place the risks to your customers at the forefront of your thinking.