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Commonwealth fined $140,000 after child's hands caught fire while touching plasma globe at Questacon

The federal government has been fined $140,000 after a nine-year-old girl's hands caught fire at Questacon in 2022 when a plasma globe ignited her hand sanitiser.

The commonwealth has been fined $140,000 over an incident where a nine-year-old girl's hands caught fire at Questacon in 2022, when she was touching a plasma globe after using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser.

The Long Sip
What happened

The commonwealth pleaded guilty to breaching work health and safety laws after a child suffered serious burns at Questacon's plasma globe exhibit in July 2022.

The detail

The court heard Questacon had been aware of the fire risk from alcohol-based sanitiser near the exhibit, including a near miss in February 2022.

What it means

The magistrate said the risk was foreseeable and foreseen, and the $140,000 fine reflected a 20% discount for the commonwealth's guilty plea.

Full story at ABC News & Headlines

What readers are saying

sonias
The February 2022 near miss where staff noticed the sanitiser-metal spark risk is mentioned, but did that trigger any formal risk review before the July incident, or was it just noted and filed?
SinglePauline
The magistrate's reasoning troubles me. He gave a 20 percent discount for a guilty plea while noting the risk was both foreseeable and foreseen. That's a contradiction in sentencing logic. If Questacon knew about the danger beforehand, remorse shouldn't reduce accountability.
Geoso
The court heard that Questacon had positioned hand sanitiser dispensers 10 metres from the globe to let the alcohol dry, but that only works if visitors actually use them and wait. That's a lot to expect a nine-year-old to remember or follow in a busy gallery.

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