Firm Fined Over Legionella Risk at Powder Coating Plant

An engineering company faces a fine after officials determined it failed to prevent exposure to dangerous bacteria in a tunnel washer at a powder coating plant in Dudley, England, Britain’s workplace safety regulator, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), announced in a press release Thursday.

De-Met Colourcoat Limited was ordered by the Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court to pay penalties totaling £10,000, or about $13,200, after it plead guilty to charges of violating two sections of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

HSE investigators determined the firm failed to deploy controls to manage the risk of legionella bacteria in the plant’s water system. Officials said De-Met Colourcoat should have “put in place effective management arrangements” to control the risk from its tunnel wash.

“This was a case where the company failed to have any controls whatsoever for the management of legionella at the powder coating plant,” said HSE Inspector Paul Cooper in the release. “Without identifying and putting into place suitable control measures there is a real risk of Legionnaires’ disease from tunnel washers. It is therefore of the upmost importance to control these risks by introducing appropriate measures.”

The company was also ordered to pay costs of £5067.68.

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