Legionnaires Disease Outbreak in Wales

The death of a 64 year old woman has triggered investigations into an outbreak of Legionnaires Disease in Wales. Another 13 people are being treated for the disease and 11 of the cases are said to be linked.

The woman died in hospital on Monday prompting Public Health Wales, the Health and Safety Executive and Environmental Health officers from seven council areas to investigate the link and possible source.

Legionnaires’ disease is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia that is contracted by breathing in infected water droplets. Common sources include cooling towers, showers and hot and cold water systems.

The risk from Legionella bacteria is present in any building containing water systems and should be managed according to the guidance in HSE document ACoP L8. This document details a programme for control based on a 2 yearly risk assessment and an on-going monitoring regime.

If you need assistance ensuring you have the risk from legionella covered, please contact us and we will be happy help.

Riverside Environmental Services Ltd provide high quality exposure assessment and monitoring services nationwide. Including; Asbestos, Legionella, COSHH, Air Testing, Occupational Health, Noise and Vibration. See our full list of services for details.

For more information please contact us.

info@riversideenvironmental.co.uk

www.riversideenvironmental.co.uk/

0870 950 0161

HSE Safe Maintenance Campaign – Asbestos Hazard

The Health and Safety Executive have launched a safe maintenance campaign aimed to promote safety awareness when carrying out maintenance tasks.

The campaign has been launched in partnership with the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), the EEF and the TUC.

One of the key hazards identified is the increased risk from disturbing asbestos while completing maintenance tasks. The important factor in controlling this risk is in properly managing asbestos materials.

The HSE recommends asking two questions before carrying out any maintenance work:

“Have we had our premises surveyed to identify any asbestos containing materials?”

“Do we have drawings or records clearly showing where the asbestos is and what condition it is in?”

The information gathered in these two questions will provide the basis for managing the risk from asbestos when carrying out future maintenance works.

If you need help in answering the two questions above, or need a company to carry out a survey of your building, please contact us and we will be very happy to help.

For more details on the safe maintenance campaign, click here.

Riverside Environmental Services Ltd provide high quality exposure assessment and monitoring services nationwide. Including; Asbestos, Legionella, COSHH, Air Testing, Occupational Health, Noise and Vibration. See our full list of services for details.

For more information please contact us.

info@riversideenvironmental.co.uk

www.riversideenvironmental.co.uk/

0870 950 0161