Prisoner Death at HMP Lincoln Due to Legionella

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• Prisoner Death at HMP Lincoln Due to Legionella

18 December 2024

UK contractor Amey Community Limited has been fined £600,000 after failing to manage legionella bacteria in the water systems at HMP Lincoln.

A 71-year old man died on 5 December 2017 after contracting Legionnaires’ disease while serving a prison sentence at HMP Lincoln. The water from his cell and nearby shower blocks tested positive for legionella days after the man died.

FM provider for the prison Amey Community Limited were found to have failed to act on a risk assessment carried out in 2016. The company did not put a written scheme into place for preventing and controlling legionella risks, nor did they ensure that appropriate water temperatures were maintained. They also  failed to monitor water temperatures in the system in October and November 2017. 

Amey Community Limited pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on 3 December 2024.

Legionella bacteria is common in natural water sources in low numbers, but they can be found in condensers and purpose-built water systems such as cooling towers where water is maintained at a temperature high enough to encourage growth. Legionnaires’ disease is a severe pneumonia caused by the inhalation of small droplets of water in the air that contain the Legionella bacteria.

HSE inspector Stacey Gamwell said: “There is a legal duty to keep workers and inmates safe in prisons. The occupants of HMP Lincoln had been put at risk of legionella bacteria and developing Legionnaires’ disease because of Amey Community Limited’s failures.”

“Companies such as Amey Community Limited need to ensure they have identified any risk of legionella and have suitable and sufficient arrangements in place for managing the risk and control measures they have implemented.”

Picture: a photograph of a kitchen tap with water coming out of it. Image Credit: Unsplash

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 18 December 2024

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