Virgin have never said sorry, says father of former model who drowned at health club

 
“Failings”: Elsa Carneau was found floating face down at the Kensington club
David Churchill2 January 2014

The parents of a former model who drowned at one of Sir Richard Branson’s health clubs today hit out at the company.

City analyst Elsa Carneau, 25, was found floating face down at Virgin Active’s flagship Kensington branch in December 2011.

Last month the centre was fined £100,000 at Southwark crown court for not performing required checks of the pool, including on the day of the tragedy. Paperwork was then falsified to make it appear the pool had been monitored, the court heard.

Checks were also not completed routinely a month prior to the death and there was a failure to undertake a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, investigators found.

The Imperial College graduate’s parents, Pierre and Veronique, today claimed Virgin had not apologised directly for the failings. Mr Carneau, 61, said: “It was easy for someone to die there unnoticed. It was an accident waiting to happen. If things had been done properly, I think there’s a chance our daughter may still be alive.

“They have never contacted, never apologised, not [even] a letter — nothing. We are shocked by this. Even the judge had kind words for us, but the organisation has not even apologised. It’s arrogant. The fine means nothing. For them it’s petty cash. What’s £100,000 to Virgin? And we still have questions needing answers.”

Mr Carneau claimed the pool was supposed to be checked every 15 minutes either physically or by CCTV. The single camera was found not to be covering the section of pool where Ms Carneau was discovered.

Footage on the day shows her swimming a few lengths before getting out for a brief period. However, she disappears from sight after swimming about two more lengths. She visited at around 6.30pm on December 3, 2011, and the emergency services were called about 30 minutes later. Her family believes she was floating in the water for about four minutes before the alarm was raised by a fellow user. Miss Carneau, from Gunnersbury, landed a job with GLG Partners, after switching careers.

Her family hopes an inquest later this year will provide answers, including whether staff carried out resuscitation attempts appropriately during a “critical” 10 to 15 minute period. The pool was not required to have pool-side lifeguards under Health & Safety Executive guidance.

Miss Carneau had no history of ill-health and had captained Imperial College’s women’s volleyball team.

Judge Alistair McCreath said it was “impossible to demonstrate the corporate faults of Virgin Active caused this dreadful death”, but ruled they failed “to make proper assessments of risk and to manage that effectively.”

Virgin Active had previously pleaded guilty to one offence under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and to another under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 at Hammersmith Magistrates Court on October 15, in a case brought by Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council.

A spokesman for Virgin said the company has on a number of occasions offered its sympathy and deep regrets to the family

He said: “Health and safety is of paramount importance in our clubs and with our staff.  Following an extensive investigation by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, as well as one by Virgin Active, there has not been any suggestion that Elsa Carneau’s tragic death was related to the health and safety standards at our Kensington club.

“Under Health & Safety Executive guidance, it is not a requirement to have a dedicated lifeguard on duty at the Kensington pool.

“However, the safety of our members is of primary importance which is why we took the decision in 2012 to exceed the requirements of HSE guidance and have a dedicated lifeguard on duty at all times at every one of our pools.”

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