Child safety paramount in building design

THE call by Sheriff Mhairi Stephen for new offices to be subject to regulations which make it impossible for small children to fall from balconies or similar structures is an overdue demand.

Sheriff Stephen's recommendations, published in her determination at the end of the fatal accident inquiry into the death of 21-month-old Ben McCreath, should now be studied by architects and the commercial property industry.

Given the circumstances of the toddler's death – he fell from the first-floor balcony of a modern Edinburgh office – a call for compulsory new safety measures for all offices, old and new, would have been understandable.

The fact that Sheriff Stephen has not made such a call should not be taken as an excuse for inaction. The "100mm rule", under which railings are not constructed with a gap big enough for a young child to slip through, should be enforced in every new office development.

But if not a statutory obligation, there should be a moral obligation for owners of older offices to test their railings and designs and to make changes if there is any possibility of a repeat of this kind of accident.

Ben's mother Louise McCreath last night said she was "content" with the sheriff's recommendation on building laws. As she lost a son, that is all she can be. But builders, architects and the owners of offices must ensure that such a tragedy never happens again.