What is it?
Legionella is a term for a group of bacteria which, if inhaled, can cause Legionnaires Disease. This disease is a form of pneumonia which proves fatal in about 10-15% of cases.
What regulations do I need to follow?
There are a number of regulations and guidance documents that deal with the risk from Legionella bacteria, however the main documents are the Health and Safety at Work Act and ACoP L8.
ACoP L8 is provided by the HSE to offer specific guidance on how to control the risk from Legionella including management, record keeping, training and practical tasks.
Where is the risk?
Legionella are water based bacteria commonly found in water systems such as domestic hot and cold water, cooling towers, drinking water etc.
In practise any water system has the potential risk from Legionella associated to it.
What do I need to do?
The first step is to carry out a risk assessment of the water systems you manage. This must be carried out by a competent person, as whoever completes this document is taking responsibility for the risk and so must understand it.
There are really only 2 steps to most Legionella control programmes:
Legionella Risk Assessment – Every 2 years (or when something significant changes)
Routine Legionella Monitoring – This is set out by the risk assessment but is likely to include basic temperature checks, physical inspection and sampling.
In most cases trained site staff carry out the more basic tests leaving only quarterly, 6 monthly or annual visits for a specialist contractor.
Things to check
1. Make sure any specialist contractor you employ is a member of the Legionella Control Association (LCA)
2. Impartial and independent advice is crucial. Make sure you are happy the contractor is not just trying to make work for themselves! Employing an independent consultant is one way of achieving this.
3. Keep records of the good work you are doing. Without written confirmation in your site log book the HSE could assume it never happened!
And finally…
Legionella is a real problem which according to the HPA is greatly under reported. They estimate the true level of infection is approximately 5000 a year*, and so effective control is essential for both those at risk and those managing water systems.
*HPA presentation at the Combating Legionella conference 2010.
Please contact us for more information on Legionella control and we will be happy to help.
0870 950 0161.
For industry news and updates follow us at http://www.twitter.com/Riverside_Env
Tweet
No comments:
Post a Comment