Swansea golf course owner in court after worker sustained life changing injuries

A MAN has been left with life-changing injuries after his employer failed to safely maintain his work vehicle, resulting in a horrific accident.

The man, 39, was working as a green keeper at Gower Golf Club, Swansea when the incident occurred on April 1, 2022.

The man had been instructed by his employer to put holes in the green and was provided with a Kawasaki mule utility vehicle to aid him in completing the task. But, when he was using the vehicle to carry out his work, the vehicle was unable to stop, causing it to lose control and crash into a ditch.

According to reports, the vehicle had not been safely maintained, and the correct inspections had not been carried out. Employees had also reportedly not been provided with sufficient training to use the vehicle.

As a result, the man has been left with severe injuries, including his nose having to be reattached, a bleed on the brain, and soft tissue damage.

He also initially needed substantial care and assistance to carry out everyday tasks such as cutting up his food and washing due to his injuries.

In court, the Gower Golf Course Ltd and owner of Gower Golf Club have pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety at work regulations.

Golf club owner Adrian Richards, who is also the company’s sole director, pleaded guilty on behalf of himself and the company to three health and safety charges relating to the incident and other breaches identified on site, at Swansea Magistrates court on January 24, 2024.

Magistrates heard that the company and Mr. Richards had failed to ensure other equipment was being safely maintained, including tractors, mowers, buggies, turf maintenance machinery and chainsaws. There was no evidence of a maintenance log for the buggy involved in the crash, nor for other equipment.

The court was told that when a consultant vehicle engineer examined the buggy after the crash he found a brake pipe had substantial chaffing damage and other defects.

Separately, Mr Richards and the company pleaded guilty to four food hygiene offences, including failure to ensure hot and cold running water for cleaning kitchen equipment, failure to provide washbasins for staff to keep their hands clean and failing to keep food premises cleaned and maintained.

These prosecutions are not the first time the club has been in court for food hygiene offences as it had been prosecuted both in 2011 and 2017 for similar problems around cleanliness and food safety.

In total Gower Golf Course Ltd was ordered to pay £25,260 in fines and costs and the director was ordered to pay £2,700 in fines and a £190 victim surcharge.

The man is now pursuing a personal injury claim for damages with Oakwood Solicitors Ltd.