Mears Facilities Manager unfairly sacked after raising legionella fears at Highland Council schools

The bug, which can cause Legionnaires’ disease if not properly handled, was discovered in five schools in the council area in 2019, with Mr Parkinson writing a report stating that Mears did not have proper risk assessments or testing regimes in place.

The document, which was later accepted by the maintenance firm, also claimed that the buildings, constructed under controversial private finance initiatives, had poorly designed water systems which made the bacteria more likely to develop.

In 2010, Kinlochleven High School was forced to close its doors due to the discovery of legionella, while measures - including filters being fitted to taps - were again put in place at the school in 2019.

Mears said it was not uncommon to discover the bacteria, adding that improvement works have since been carried out at the schools and there are no health and safety concerns.

The firm disciplined Mr Parkinson after he flagged his concerns and claimed he had brought the company into disrepute.

He decided to resign and took his case to an employment tribunal and has now been awarded almost £9000 for constructive dismissal, with employment judge James Hendry finding that he was dismissed because he made a protected disclosure.

Judge Hendry said: “Given the clear public interest involved in ensuring safe water supplies in schools, it is apparent that the report contained public interest disclosures made by the claimant to his employers.”

He added: “[Mr Parkinson] has demonstrated that the actions of the employers were taken because of the protected disclosures and he was entitled to resign in response.”

The judge also found that Mr Parkinson’s manager, Tom Griffin, who had been aware of the issues for some time, showed a “surprising lack of urgency” in dealing with the problems.

The tribunal heard that Mr Parkinson took on the role of contracts manager in October 2017 – around the same time that Highland Council began an audit into water management compliance.

The audit found there were “significant compliance issues” in the schools in relation to the “design and operation of the systems”.

An improvement plan was put in place and Mr Parkinson was designated as the person responsible for water management within a group of schools.

He worked alongside a council representative who took samples from the schools over several months “which showed some of the schools to have dirty water”.

When Mr Parkinson raised this with Mr Griffin, the senior manager claimed the council employee was being “overzealous” and advised that staff at the school should run the taps to clear the dirt.

Following further concerns, Mr Parkinson arranged for further water samples to be taken at Kinlochleven High School in April 2019 and some tested positive for legionella.

Other schools were then sampled and a further four tested positive for the bacteria.

The tribunal judgment states: “The results concerned Highland Council. The claimant updated Mr Griffin who appeared unconcerned. Mr Griffin’s position was that it was normal to get positive results from time to time.”

Mr Parkinson then went on to write a report on the matter, which stated that the water systems in the schools had led to “dead legs” which increased the likelihood of legionella developing.

It added that risk assessments were not audited to ensure efficacy and Mears policies and procedures were “technically incorrect”. It also claimed that staff were not adequately trained.

Following its publication, Mr Parkinson was suspended by Mears and a disciplinary investigation was launched.

The firm believed that he had exaggerated the problems and took exception to his claims about the competency of Mears’ staff. Bosses were also unhappy that he had written that the bug could “cause death in the most extreme case”.

However, Mr Parkinson felt he was being scapegoated.

The judgment states: “The claimant did not know why he was being disciplined for preparing the report, especially as the company had accepted its terms.

“He had not been told that the report should be confidential and only disclosed to Alpha Schools.”

Following a string of other issues with the disciplinary process, he decided to resign on December 6.

He also reported Mears to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Scotland.

In February 2020, the HSE wrote to Mears referring to positive legionella samples at Kinlochleven High School and stating that “they had identified contraventions of health and safety law”.

These included no site specific risk assessments being in place, problems with the design of the systems and the lack of a sampling plan.

Judge Hendry stated: “The terms of the HSE findings are much more supportive of the claimant’s position than the considerably more relaxed attitude Mr Griffin took.

“It seems to me that they support the claimant’s position that these were exceptionally serious failures.”

Mears said improvement works have been completed at the schools, including pipes, boilers and expansion tanks being replaced.

A spokesman stated: “Mears want to underline and reassure that this isn’t uncommon within buildings. As managers of the water system Mears would like to make clear that there are no health and safety concerns.”

He added: "We would like to assure the community that water is tested on a very regular basis and is monitored to the highest standards in compliance with Health and Safety law and HS Guidelines. We also work with our partners at the council to ensure that this is also monitored and audited independently.

"The current regime of water management, audit, and testing procedures exceed that required from legislative and industry guidelines. We will continue to use robust monitoring methods to ensure systems are in control."

Highland Council said it was unable to respond.