Prosecution by council sees company fined £1.8m over Legionnaires risk

A prosecution brought by Harlow Council has seen a G4S company fined £1.8m for failing to protect its workers from the risk of Legionnaires’ disease.

G4S Cash Solutions (UK) Limited has also been ordered to pay the council’s court costs of around £34,000.

The fine was handed down last week by a judge at Chelmsford Crown Court. The defendant company had pleaded guilty on 20 June 2016 to two charges under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The prosecution followed an inspection of G4S’s Harlow site carried out by environmental health officers in October 2013. This followed the receipt of a report that a Harlow resident had contracted Legionellosis.

The council said that all potential sources of infection were investigated. The resident worked at the site and although it was never confirmed that the disease was contracted from the site, environmental health officers “started to uncover a serious lack of compliance in maintaining water systems at the site”. 

Harlow said: “They found that the monitoring and testing of systems was erratic, staff had received inadequate training, and there were no up to date policies or suitable and sufficient risk assessments in place to safely operate or manage the building's water systems. 

“G4S did not take the steps required to reduce the risk of Legionnaires’ disease from its water systems and this was despite a long-standing duty, extensive guidance, advice from their own consultants and advice from Harlow Council.”

G4S told the Court that they have since taken a number of measures to improve health and safety across the company. 

Cllr Danny Purton, Portfolio Holder for Environment at Harlow, said: "The health and safety of our citizens is our number one priority and the council will always encourage employers to make improvements that protect their workers. However, there are cases where if necessary, we will prosecute because you simply can't play with people’s lives.

"Although some improvements were made eventually, it had taken G4S almost three years from the date of a risk assessment in 2012 to reach minimum standards to protect its staff and visitors from exposure to Legionella bacteria. 

"The million-pound-plus fine should send a serious and important message to other companies. Legionnaires’ disease is a real risk and companies need to take their health and safety duties to their employees and others very seriously.”

He added: "I congratulate the council’s Environmental Health and Legal staff for their commitment and professionalism in seeing this issue through.”