Port Fairy pool operator charged after Cooper Onyett drowned during school camp
Charge against boy, 8, drowned in school camp pool
- Cooper Onyett drowned during a school camp
- Swimming pool operator and Ministry of Education sued
A swimming pool operator and the Victorian Department of Education have been charged two years after a boy tragically drowned at a school camp.
Year two student, Cooper Onyett, 8, drowned on May 21, 2021 near Belfast Aquatics in Port Fairy, southwest Victoria.
He had been on his first overnight camp at Merrivale Primary School.
WorkSafe on Friday sued both the Port Fairy Community Pool Management Group Inc and the Victorian Department of Education over the incident.
Cooper’s mother, Skye Meinen, described her infant son as the “life of the party” at the time of his death.
Cooper Onyett, 8, drowned on May 21, 2021 near Belfast Aquatics in Port Fairy, southwest Victoria, during his first school camp
“He lived every day of his life with a smile and tried to make everyone around him happy and tried to make them appreciate everything around them,” she told the Announce sun at the time.
“He brightened everything up.”
Remembering the last moment she had with her son when she dropped him off, Ms. Meinen said she gave him a “big hug” and told him she would see him the next day.
“All I know is I had an excited little boy going on his very first school sleepover,” she said.
Cooper’s mother, Skye Meinen (right), described Connor (center) as the “life of the party”
WorkSafe sued Port Fairy Community Pool Management Group Inc for three violations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act for failing to ensure that the child was not exposed to risk.
The pool operator also faces a further three charges under the law for failing to ensure that the workplace under its management and control was ‘safe and free of risk to health’.
WorkSafe claims that the pool did not test the students’ swimming skills before allowing them to use an inflatable obstacle course.
It is also alleged that qualified lifeguards were not on duty and that lifeguards were not instructed on how to use the inflatable track in a safe manner.
WorkSafe has also sued the Department of Education for failing to inform the pool of the children’s swimming skills or ensure their skills were tested.
The case will be heard in Warrnambool Magistrates’ Court on May 29.
Ms Meinen said the death of Cooper (left) left the family shocked and devastated