PIPERDAM GC, DUNDEE FINED £120,000 FOLLOWING TOURIST DEATH

FROM THE HERALDSCOTLAND.COM WEBSITE
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By CHRIS WATT
A Scottish golf resort has been fined over the death of a tourist who caught Legionnaires’ disease from a hot tub.
The Piperdam Golf and Leisure Resort, near Dundee, was fined £120,000 for exposing English visitor Edward Warnes to the deadly bacteria.
Mr Warnes and his wife both fell ill after staying at the resort in March 2008, but while she recovered from Pontiac fever – a short, feverish form of Legionnaires – he caught the full-blown version and had to go to hospital, where he died.
An investigation by Angus Council showed the strain of legionella bacteria that had killed him was present in the hot tub and two shower heads at the lodge where the Warne family stayed.
In a ruling at Forfar Sheriff Court, Elaine Taylor, head of the Crown Office Health and Safety Division, said measures to control legionella bacteria at the resort were inadequate and led to its proliferation in the lodge.
“Mr Warnes’ death was entirely avoidable and had Piperdam met its statutory health and safety obligations he would be alive today,” she said.
The Piperdam Golf and Leisure Resort pled guilty to breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act, and the business was fined £120,000 – reduced from £150,000 because of the company’s guilty plea.
Legionnaires is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia which results in death in around 12% of reported cases. It can sometimes be treated with antibiotics.