Court orders club to pay £150k over greenkeeper death

By Alistair September 2, 2018 18:45 Updated

Golf clubs are being encouraged to check health and safety claims of their staff with previous employers after a Leicestershire club was ordered to pay £150k following the death of its course manager.

The 56-year-old’s body was found near the 14th hole in December 2013.

The golf club accepted the course manager’s incorrect assertion that he was chainsaw-trained, and did not check this with his previous employers. Sadly, it was while carrying out chainsaw work that he died.

A councillor who was involved in the prosecution said that organisations run by volunteers, such as private members’ golf clubs “have the same health and safety responsibilities to their employees as any other business”.

According to The Hinckley Times, Leicester Crown Court fined Hinckley Golf Club about £75,000 for breaches of health and safety law. The club also has to cover court costs, which ran into thousands of pounds.

Douglas Johnstone died after being hit on the head by a tree branch.

He was working late at the golf club clearing a fallen tree from the green when the accident happened.

Mr Johnstone, known as Dougie, was working alone and using a chainsaw without wearing a helmet.

The falling branch inflicted a fatal brain injury.

“Sentencing, Judge Martin Hurst said the accident happened against a background of a systemic failure to deal with health and safety at the club,” reports the paper.

“He said the club had since taken substantial steps to voluntarily improve its health and safety arrangements, adding: ‘The other side of the coin is that the steps now taken demonstrate the woeful state of health and safety before’.

“During an 11-day trial, the jury was told Mr Johnstone was not qualified to use the motorised saw, although club officials believed he was, according to his job application. He had exaggerated his credentials.

“The court heard Mr Johnstone was carrying out the chainsaw work unaccompanied, after other ground workers had gone home for the day.

“The jury took seven-and-a-half hours of deliberations to find the golf club guilty of three health and safety offences, between January and December 2013.

“The judge said during sentencing he agreed Hinckley Golf Club was a “highly regarded local institution”, with no previous health and safety convictions.

“He criticised it for not making calls to confirm Mr Johnstone’s qualifications and experience with his two previous employers.”