3 hours 16 mins ago
Press Assoc.

A school has been ordered to pay £19,000 after a 16-year-old girl lost most of her fingers when she put her hands in a bucket of plaster of Paris during a school art lesson.

The teenager was attempting to make a sculpture of her own hands during a lesson in January 2007 when the horrific accident happened, Boston Magistrates' Court in Lincolnshire was told.

The plaster set around her hands and neither staff nor paramedics could get it off during the lesson at Giles School, in Boston.

The court was told that temperatures up to 60C can be generated in large quantities of plaster and the girl, who was referred to in court only as student X, suffered terrible burns.

Plastic surgeons did what they could to help her but after a series of 12 operations she was left with no fingers on one hand and just two on the other.

The foundation school's governing body admitted breaching health and safety regulations and also failing to report the incident to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The court was told the HSE was never informed by the school about what happened. It only found out six weeks after the incident from the girl's plastic surgeon.

The school was fined a total of £16,500 and ordered to pay £2,500 in costs.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20091012/tuk-pupil-lost-fingers-in-art-accident-6323e80.html

YIKES!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

i have to say the girl was just as much responsible for what happened- if she didn't leave her hands in that plaster of paris, then this incident would never have got as far as it did. and so it was very naive on her part too.

^ Exactly - you can't be too careful when it comes to those art supplies. It's just too bad she had to learn the hard way. :eek:

^ Exactly - you can't be too careful when it comes to those art supplies. It's just too bad she had to learn the hard way. :eek:

so true monika- she did pay the price in the end, and it was a heavy one too as it cost her most of her fingers, which left her with none on one hand!

so true monika- she did pay the price in the end, and it was a heavy one too as it cost her most of her fingers, which left her with none on one hand!
How awful. I'm cringing just thinking about it!! :eek:

I agree the girl is at fault for what happened. If this happened here in the U.S. the school would be sued for a lot more money.

Where was the art teacher when this happened? Did the students receive proper instruction on how to handle this stuff?

Still freaky to hear about. I feel so sorry for the girl.

How awful!

Where was the art teacher when this happened? Did the students receive proper instruction on how to handle this stuff?

Still freaky to hear about. I feel so sorry for the girl.

i'm sure they were teaching in the lesson but not monitoring what was happening then. but yeah, it's terrible!

that incident happened in January of 2007, although the fallout and any related court cases are probably still going on now...

plaster, mortar, concrete and anything that uses cement are all exothermic chemical reactions; they release heat as they harden and if people are unaware of that they can really hurt themselves.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lincolnshire/8303246.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/6485481.stm

apparently the girl's teacher told the girl to put her hands into CLAY to make the mold of her hands and then pour the plaster into the clay mold.

I feel so sorry for that poor girl. It makes me sick just to think about it.