2 year old accident in a coffee shop

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I have a 24 month old dd and just gave birth to another dd last week.
I went to meet some friends in a Costa coffee shop on Wednesday.
While we were talking my daughter went around the corner and the next thing I know she is screaming her head off.

DD is pretty good at not making a fuss,usually gets up quickly after a fall and forgets about it straight away so I knew something was wrong.

I rushed over and she was lying on the floor with a great big panel of wood which makes up the counter on top of her leg.
I was in a state of panic, her foot was very swollen I could see under her tights, although I didnt take them off I was worried she had broken something (learnt after this is rare in 2 yr old but I didn't think about that at the time)
I rang my husband to fetch us and we got home to see the damage. She couldnt walk on it and was obviously in great pain. We took off the tights and her wole foot was swollen up. We went to see the Dr at the hospitl who sent us for xray and nothing as broken, but her foot now has a bruise all over the top from her ankle to her toes.
My daughter is a small 2 year old and not very strong at all. There is no way that she could have removed that panel unless it was loose.

Anyway, the guy in the coffee shop at the time came over and asked me if she was ok and at the time I just said to him she was in shock and left it there as I had to get her out of there

My husband went to the coffee shop yesterday to see if they had recorded the incident and the guy told him no because I had said dd was just in shock.
DH also went to check the panel that had fallen and he said it was still loose and could easily fall on someone again, even an older person who might lean on it or something.

DH told the guy that he wanted it reported and recorded within 2 days or he would report it himself.

I have no idea about legal matters or health and safety, DH has more than me but not much.

Should we leave this here and hope it has been reported and sorted out or do anything else?

Many thanks and sorry for long post!

Daughter now hobbling around on foot rather than resorting to crawling!

Hello, I hope your DD is feeling better today . Not an expert either, but I think if it was me I'd put something in writing to the coffee shop and ask for a reply letting you know that it's been recorded and that the fault has been fixed. Bumping this in case others have better ideas!

I'd ask for assurances that it has been fixed - but I'd also not let a 2 year old wander round a coffee shop - where hot coffee is being carried around

Because your daughter received hospital treatment the coffee shop should have made a report to the Health & Safety Executive. An accident form should also have been completed at the time.

Commercial premises open to the public also have a legal duty to assess risk of the environment so if there is a real risk of bits of the furniture and/or fittings damaging people they must take action.

Having said all that, you can't know it was Costa's fault because you didn't see what happened because your child was unsupervised. It may be that she pulled at the panel and it came off but with normal use would be safe.

I know it's painful to acknowledge but it is extremely unlikely Costa is at fault for the accident (yes they are at fault for not reporting correctly but that wouldn't prevent your daughter's injury) but you, as the parent, are at fault for allowing her to wander unsupervised in a dangerous environment.

I think what you should do is concentrate on getting your dd better and use the benefit of experience to keep her safe in future. I would also email Costa HO (just in case the store manager is not good) to give your details for the accident reporting process and to allow them to investigate.

an accident form should have completed at the very least and they should then get whoever is in charge of building maintenance to look at the loose panel and fix it. I've worked in several buildings open to the public and apart from council ones which are generally very good they are often very lax on health and safety and following up matters. One cafe in a major chainstore i worked in as a Saturday girl refused to listen to my concerns re their counter for hot drinks and in the end i had to go out and buy stripey black and yellow tape to stick all along it so customers could clearly see the unlevel surface- old people and boiling liquids, my mind still wines at the thought of the damage it could do. It got fixed- eventually , not good enough. Where i work all under 8s are legally obliged to be kept under a parent's supervision at all times.
Yes i'd email HQ too. From my experience store and department managers don't always do their jobs properly, or are not prioritising the right things.

By the way, I had a newborn on my knee and she walked away from me for a second, I don't think I would be the first mum to admit to that and yes I did feel terrible and guilty - still do!! I was actually asking for advice from a H and S point of view rather than a parenting one but I get the point and well I feel even more awful now. :(

Thankyou Tabby for the advice and will check that has been done. What my DH is basically saying is that it should at least have been reported regardles of whose fault it was iyswim?

I am also a bit fluff headed at the moment due to the lack of sleep,birth and other things going on and had just managed to get out to meet with some friends because I didn't want them all to come around to our house as DH was at home. I wish I had stayed in now!