A SCHOOL staff member slipping on a grape and another being kicked by a pupil were among the dozens of health and safety incidents reported to a county council.

The total number of cases reported to Denbighshire county council rose by 130% in 12 months a recent Corporate Governance and Audit Committee meeting heard.

The annual health and safety report revealed there were 3,739 incidents logged in 2019-20, compared to just 1,601 the previous year.

The number of Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) events, which need to be reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) increased from 23 to 32 in the same period.

Among the more serious, reportable incidents occurred when a member of staff slipped on a grape in a school canteen, injuring her face and arm.

It was listed as a “major accident” although the severity and exact nature of the injuries were not reported.

In another incident a member of staff had to take time off after being kicked in the abdomen by a pupil.

Another was left with ankle ligament damage and a possible chipped bone, after getting her toe caught in a door while dealing with a “challenging pupil”, while a staff member at a special school was punched in the face.

Council bosses said the rise was due to better reporting procedures and the opening of SC2, where staff were told to report every event no matter how minor.

The meeting heard the numbers should be seen as “positive” in the context of a “sustained effort to get all operational areas in DCC to record all accidents and incidents”.

Children themselves also suffered injuries in schools with one primary school pupil damaging all their fingers after a faulty slow release door trapped them.

Another unlucky secondary school boy jumped beyond freshly raked

sand in a long jump pit and broke his ankle.

Members of the public were also involved in incidents reported as RIDDOR events.

One man punctured his groin when he leant over a spectator fence to retrieve a ball.

Another ran into a neck high rope attached to a fence, which was supporting a goal and was left with burns to his chin and neck and a broken arm.

According to the report, between April and August this year there have been 149 health and safety incidents, with eight serious enough to report to the HSE under RIDDOR.

Reporting injuries under RIDDOR puts the responsibility on employers to inform the HSE “certain serious workplace accidents, occupational diseases and specified dangerous occurrences (near misses)”.