A teacher at a municipal elementary school in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, left the pool water supply running, resulting in the overflow of approximately 167.2 tons of water over 15 hours, the city announced. The incident occurred at Arima Elementary School on the afternoon of July 17, when the teacher began filling the pool with water intended for firefighting purposes.
The teacher, who intended to shut off the water before leaving work, became distracted with preparations for moving inside the school building and forgot to turn off the supply. The next morning at 7 a.m., the teacher noticed the water was still running and promptly closed the valve. The incident caused around 140,000 yen in damages.
Despite having established procedures for staff to check with each other and set alarms to prevent such incidents, the Kawasaki City Board of Education noted these protocols were not followed. Although the board determined the error was due to negligence by the school principal and involved staff members, considering the specifics and circumstances, they decided not to pursue a claim for damages.
by MagazineKey4532