Gym fined for broken neck

Prosecutions and Claims |
14.12.2007

A Stafford sports centre has been fined £15,000 after a man broke his neck when the handlebars of the exercise bike he was using collapsed.

Steven McHugh is still receiving treatment after suffering injuries at Stafford Sports Arena on 1 August 2006.

McHugh was taking part in a spinning class - where a group cycle on stationary bikes following the instructions of a trainer - when the handlebars of his bike became detached from the frame and he fell forwards, hitting his head on the bike in front.

In a statement to Stafford Magistrates' Court, McHugh said he had been in a rigid neck collar for 10 months and received physiotherapy weekly. He had to drink through a straw for nine months as he was unable to tilt his head. He faces the possibility of surgery to fuse bones in his neck together.

Environmental health officers at Stafford Borough Council found that the bike's handlebars had been extended beyond the marked safe maximum height.

"Members of the public could adjust the handlebars and there was no physical way of stopping them adjusting the bars beyond the safe limit," Mark Street, environmental health manager at the council, told HSW. "That was compounded by the fact there was no methodical system for checking whether the bikes had been adjusted beyond their safe limit."

On behalf of Sparena Leisure, which owns the sports centre, Mark Owen told the court equipment checks were carried out on a daily and weekly basis, although a service contract for the bikes had been stopped.

He said the manufacturer of the bikes had provided instructions for their use but the gym did not have instructions on adjusting the handlebars.

Sparena Leisure admitted breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act by failing to ensure the safety of non-employees. On 8 November, Stafford magistrates fined the firm £15,000 with costs of £2,562.

Imposing the penalty, they said the decision not to have the bikes serviced had been motivated by profit.

Since the accident the bikes have been modified so handlebars can only be adjusted by a member of staff using a key.