A MAN from Sheffield has received a £20,000 out-of-court settlement after catching a potentially fatal disease at work.
The 38-year-old caught Legionnaires' disease, a rare form of pneumonia, after working as a subcontractor on cooling towers for Sheffield fencing manufacturer Estate Wire at its site on Birley Vale Close.
He became so ill he had to be rushed by amb
ulance to the Northern General Hospital, where he was found to have the lung disease which is fatal in around five to 15 per cent of cases.
"It had a devastating effect on my life," said the worker. "When I became ill it was terrible, it felt like a knife was tearing at my lungs."
Legionnaires' disease is caused by bacteria which can live in cooling towers, evaporative condensers, and even places like whirlpool spas. The bacteria is also found naturally in rivers, lakes and reservoirs.
It is caught by inhaling small droplets of water suspended in the air, which contain the legionella bacteria which then attacks the lungs.
The man, who does not want to be identified, had worked at Estate Wire in 2005 for just three weeks before coming down with symptoms.
He spent two weeks seriously ill in hospital and afterwards suffered from deep vein thrombosis for months which made it impossible for him to work in his old job.
According to a Health and Safety Executive report, two other potential victims of legionnaires' were identified and both were found to be neighbours of the factory.
One was thought to be a 79-year-old man who at the time lived on Birley Vale Avenue, and the second was a 48-year-old from a nearby road who suffered blurred vision, nausea and headaches.
Warning of the dangers of Legionnaires' disease, Chris Fry - partner and Head of Industrial Diseases at Wake Smith & Tofields solicitors who took on the man's case - said: "There is a lack of awareness of Legionnaires' disease and knowledge of the symptoms is worse still.
"Given the industrial background to Sheffield and the number of factories in operation today, many with cooling towers installed, it is imperative awareness is improved.''
Estate Wire was accused of breaching its responsibilities to adequately protect employees from exposure to hazardous substances. In the out-of-court agreement Estate Wire paid the damages and the man's legal fees in full. Legionnaires' disease, also known as Legionellosis, takes its name from the first known outbreak which occurred in a hotel hosting a convention of the Pennsylvania Department of the American Legion in 1976.
Buy The Star - Monday to Saturday - for local news, sport, features and ads. To subscribe CLICK HEREREAD MOREMain news indexYour lettersFeaturesSouth Yorkshire's environmental newsKids ZoneMore business newsMore Rotherham newsMore Doncaster newsMore Barnsley newsLatest sport
