When what makes an activity fun can contribute to risk, and can lead to tragedy
What happened?
The thirteen year-old boy was three foot eleven inches tall (1.2m). He was playing in a mixed age group of thirty-three players, all above the age of six years, and taller than three foot seven inches (1.1m).
He collided heavily with another boy, a six foot (1.8m) teenager, and fell on top of him. Sadly the boy died thirty-five minutes after arriving at Leicester Royal Infirmary having suffered a cardiac arrest.
The teenager told the inquest he did not realise the boy was there because of his slight build and the dark lighting in the room. ‘He was so small I could not see him over the top of my laser gun. I fell on top of him and he started screaming.’
A pathologist said that the boy was very small for his age, and concluded that he had suffered a severe liver injury in the collision which had caused major blood loss, which were the causes of death.
Legal Outcome
The jury at the inquest returned a verdict of accidental death.
What can we learn from what happened?
Laser Tag, or Laser Quest are very popular activities. As an activity it can involve fast-speed movement, large groups of players and relatively dim lighting. There is, therefore, a risk of collisions happening, and these factors all contribute to the risk. These risk factors, however, are also the attraction, and what makes it fun.
In a sport and leisure environment, safety management is so often about striking the right balance between offering activities that inspire and stimulate people, especially children, and making sure the risks of getting hurt are, while recognised, proportionate, sensible and controlled.
An issue with this tragic accident is the mixed age nature of the group, and the mixed size of the individuals within the group. The parents of the boy certainly felt that more could have been done to group players according to their height. The rules of the game require that no players run, and there is no physical contact, but these rules are virtually impossible to enforce 100% when a game starts, and while the activity is supervised, it is simply not feasible to control each and every movement of every player all the time.
This incident was the first of its kind for the Laser Tag organisation in its twenty-years of operation, and the local authority decided it would be taking no action against the organisation because it was ‘satisfied with the company’s health and safety procedures.’
Very sadly, while extremely rare, when it comes to sport and leisure activities, what makes the activity fun can also contribute to risk, then there will always be the potential for serious accidents.
Source of Information
SHP In-Court