When it seems extraordinary that such a deadly outbreak could happen at a retail outlet, but given the contributing risk factors, it makes complete sense.
What happened?
A man aged 79 years died after breathing-in the waterborne disease, legionella, at a hot tub display, located within a store in a city. A second man, aged 71, also died, from a pre-existing condition.
Twenty-one other individuals were also hit by Legionnaire’s Disease during the outbreak.
Legal Outcome
The firm admitted at Crown Court the breach in health and safety rules, and were fined £1million.
The prosecution said there should have been better maintenance of the hot tub area and a more thorough risk assessment of the display. The QC, representing the company, said the firm accepted it had ‘not shown the compassion expected’ regarding the loss, and suffering to families of the victims.
In a joint statement, relatives of the men criticised the store for remaining ‘faceless throughout’ and never apologising or showing compassion. They said: “The store have hid behind a wall of silence all these years before finally admitting that they were to blame, not only for infecting all those innocent people but to causing the premature deaths of our loved ones.”
What can we learn from what happened?
Any operation that involves water, especially warm/hot water, especially water that can collect and be stagnant, and especially water that can be elicited as a spray or vapour must be managed because of the risk of it containing the legionella bacteria.
Leisure centres, for example, will (or should) be very aware of these risks and will have systems in place to deal with them. A hot tub on display in a shop may not seem an obvious source of a hazardous substance that has the potential to kill people, but it did.
While on the face of it to have this kind of outbreak at a retail outlet seems extraordinary, considering the factors that increase the risk of build-up of legionella, it makes complete sense.
Source of Information
SHP Online
BBC News Online