A federal government department has been convicted and fined $140,000 after a child visiting the Questacon science and technology centre in Canberra was seriously injured when their hands caught fire. 

The nine-year-old, who was visiting on July 23 2022, applied alcohol-based hand sanitiser provided by Questacon and then touched a plasma globe in one of the galleries. The fire caused second degree burns to their wrists, hands and fingers and a blister to their right forearm. 

Comcare CEO Colin Radford said the regulator’s investigation found the injury risk from plasma globes and contact with alcohol-based sanitiser was significant and obvious. 

“This was not an isolated event. The child’s injuries marked the sixth safety incident in five months involving the globes,” Mr Radford said. 

“This included a near miss in February 2022 where a staff member noticed the combination of hand sanitiser with metal could cause sparks from a plasma globe, and another incident that month where a visitor received a shock to a hand.” 

Mr Radford said Questacon’s response to the incidents was inadequate. 

“It’s a large, interactive facility with inherent workplace health and safety risks that require a proactive approach and constant vigilance,” he said. 

Questacon is a division of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, which pleaded guilty in the ACT magistrates court to a single charge under the Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Act, admitting it exposed visitors to a risk of death or serious injury. 

The matter was prosecuted by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, and the department was sentenced by Magistrate Ian Temby. 

Comcare says the department agreed it should have taken measures to eliminate or minimise the risk, including by arranging the plasma globe display so it was subject only to supervised use by trained workers. 

It should also have used non-alcohol-based sanitiser or provided portable soap and water handwashing stations and warned against using flammable substances, including alcohol-based hand sanitiser, before or when touching the globes.