Legionnaires' outbreak: Inspectors serve notice on cooling tower company

Inspectors investigating the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in Edinburgh have served an improvement notice on a second cooling tower.

The Scottish Government confirmed the number of people infected had risen again from 82 to 88, with 39 confirmed cases and 49 suspected cases on Monday afternoon.

Chemical company Macfarlan Smith Ltd was contacted by the Health and Safety Executive on Monday.

Two improvement notices were served ordering the firm to carry out “thorough cleaning” of one its cooling towers and improve “provision of access for inspection and maintenance” of the heat removal device.

Last Friday, the executive served a similar notice on North British Distillery Company Ltd for a failure to devise and implement a sustained and effective biocide control programme in one cooling tower at its site, which is also on Wheatfield Road, in the Gorgie area of the city.

As of noon on Monday, 14 of those suffering from the disease were in intensive care and 26 were on general wards. A total of 18 cases were being treated in the community, 22 had been discharged from hospital.

Bert Air, 56, is the only fatality linked to the outbreak at this stage.

The government also confirmed seven cases were being treated outwith the NHS Lothian area, while the victims’ ages range from 33 and 76 years old, with men predominantly affected.

A Health and Safety Executive spokeswoman said: "The improvement notices require the company to take steps to improve its management systems and do not mean that this cooling tower has been identified as the source of the outbreak. HSE said the source of the outbreak may never be conclusively identified, based on experience from previous outbreaks.

"The improvement notices have been served because the company has allegedly failed to maintain their control measures for the safe operation of the cooling tower to the required standard. It does not indicate an immediate risk from legionella, as this was being controlled by the emergency dosing of chemicals and the company’s subsequent voluntary shutdown of the cooling tower."

The opiates and controlled drug manufacturer has 21 days to appeal the notice and have until July 9 to comply with it.

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