Infant suffers ‘disturbing’ burns after early childhood teacher left hot tea on a low shelf

A 15-month-old child was rushed to hospital after burning himself with a teacher's hot cup of tea. Photo / NZME

An infant needed emergency surgery for severe burns to his face and cheek after grabbing a boiling hot cup of tea his teacher left unattended on a shelf at daycare.

The injuries, described by the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal in a decision released this week as “disturbing”, resulted in the 15-month-old spending five days in hospital.

The lead teacher, whose name and that of the centre she worked at are suppressed, has now been found guilty of misconduct.

According to the decision, on September 9, 2020, the teacher had just completed a training course and was taking a late lunch at around 2.40pm.

Before telling other staff in the next room she was taking a break, she placed an uncovered mug of tea in an open locker about 80 cm off the ground.

When she returned, she saw the child holding the mug and screaming.

The teacher and a colleague rushed to the infant, removing his clothes and tipping glasses of cold water over him. He was later moved to a tub.

Staff immediately called the child’s father and an ambulance. Both arrived by 2.55pm.

Staff and paramedics cooled the child in the tub for another 30 minutes before he was taken to hospital. He underwent surgery for severe burns on his left arm and cheek. He was in hospital for five days.

His parents said after the incident he was traumatised and didn’t want to eat or be bathed.

The 15-month-old infant required surgery and spent five days in hospital. Stock photo / 123rf

The centre immediately removed all open mugs and reported the incident to the Ministry of Education and WorkSafe. The teacher was stood down, and all parents were notified.

Both the ministry and WorkSafe took no further action, but the centre began an employment process. That found the teacher had breached the centre’s guidelines around uncovered hot drinks, and by extension, her employment contract.

The incident was found to constitute serious misconduct and the teacher was formally warned. She returned to work on September 22.

All mugs have since been removed from the centre, with staff now provided with screw-top travel cups.

The child’s mother laid a complaint with the Teaching Council, which resulted in the Complaints Assessment Committee (CAC) determining the teacher had committed misconduct.

The disciplinary process bypasses the tribunal if the CACs view is agreed to by both the complainant and the teacher. The CAC proposed a censure, but the child’s mother did not agree.

The teacher herself met with the CAC, accepted responsibility and expressed remorse, the decision says.

The matter was referred to the tribunal, which found the charge was established. It found the incident amounted to misconduct, but not serious misconduct.

Deputy-chair Rachael Schmidt-McCleave wrote in her decision the mistake was “ill-considered and thoughtless”.

“It was clearly foreseeable that placing a boiling hot cup of water at a height accessible to a curious young child was likely to result in harm.

“The tribunal was also particularly disturbed by the photographs of the burns to Child A’s face and arm. It was certainly harm that could have been avoided.”

But the tribunal said it was satisfied the incident was a “momentary and out of character lapse of judgement” and the teacher has “suffered remorse” as a result of the event.

It agreed with the CAC and ruled a censure was the appropriate penalty.