By Lucinda Garbutt-Young in Canberra

The federal government has been fined after a primary school-aged child endured second-degree burns at the nation’s largest science education centre.

The nine-year-old girl suffered burns to her hands when she used alcohol-based hand sanitiser and touched a plasma globe exhibit at Questacon, a government-run centre in Canberra known to attract school excursions and young families, in July 2022.

Her hands, fingers and wrists were covered by the burns, and her forearm had blisters.

The government was fined $140,000 on Thursday as a result.

The ACT Magistrates Court heard in August that the girl, from Darwin, had struggled to sleep, brush her hair and teeth and write due to pain after the incident, which occurred on a family holiday.

It was the sixth time in five months a safety incident had occurred involving the globes, a federal Comcare investigation found.

One visitor got a shock to their hand, while on another occasion, a Questacon worker noticed the combination of hand sanitiser and hot metal could cause sparks.

Injury risk was “significant and obvious”, the investigation found.

“Questacon’s response to these incidents was inadequate. It’s a large, interactive facility with inherent workplace health and safety risks that require a proactive approach and constant vigilance,” Comcare chief executive Colin Radford said.

The Department of Industry, Science, Technology and Resources, which is responsible for Questacon, pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to comply with health and safety duties causing the risk of death or serious injury.

A prosecutor told the court in August that Questacon had identified a fire risk from the combination of hand sanitiser and the plasma globe as early as February 2022, five months before the incident.

The department said Questacon should have arranged the display so it was not left unsupervised, used a non-alcohol-based sanitiser and ensured visitors knew not to use flammable substances before touching the globe.

The charge had a maximum penalty of $1.5 million.

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