6 Step Guide to Controlling Legionella Risks in the Workplace
If you are in control of a building or facility that uses water in any way, whether that’s as a landlord, an employer, or anyone else who has responsibility for workplace safety, you have a legal responsibility to manage and minimise the risk factors connected to it.
This includes all risks associated with the water systems, including Legionella bacteria which is responsible for the potentially deadly Legionnaires’ disease.
A version of this six step guide to controlling legionella risks in the workplace appeared in Legionella Control International’s newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.
Do you have the expertise to manage legionella in your workplace?
Some people take on experts to conduct certain safety related tasks on their behalf. This may be wise if the person in control of the building does not have suitable knowledge, training, or experience to be able to carry out those tasks. However, the responsibility for health and safety still remains with them.
Below, we go through 6 essential steps that will help you to ensure legionella risks remain under control, allowing you to fulfil your legal duties and keep people safe.
1: Conduct a legionella risk assessment
A legionella risk assessment is the foundation of any good approach to water system safety. If you are in control of a building, it’s your responsibility to conduct the risk assessment or have one carried out. A landlord responsible for a private house should be able to do this alone, as it will probably only involve a simple hot and cold water system. However, if you are responsible for larger premises, for example, a hotel, hospital, office building or factory complex, you may wish to seek outside help.
You can choose to employ the services of a qualified outside party, such as Legionella Control International to take this on for you. However, you should remember that it is ultimately your responsibility to make sure the company you employ is properly trained, qualified, and experienced to do this job.
As a simple rule-of-thumb you should always seek to keep your water clean, your hot water hot, your cold water cold, and keep it moving to avoid stagnation.
The idea of a risk assessment is to examine all areas of a building to identify risk factors. In the case of Legionella bacteria, this covers all areas of any hot and cold water systems. For example, you must make sure that none of the water in the system sits between 20 and 45 degrees Celsius, as this is the danger zone for encouraging Legionella bacteria to multiply and spread.
The legionella risk assessment should also consider whether there is any water vapour, droplets, or aerosols created, as these have the potential to carry legionella contaminated water in the air which could be inhaled by anyone in the vicinity.
2: Appoint a responsible person to manage the risks from legionella
Once you have the results of the legionella risk assessment, someone in a position of authority must be appointed to become the responsible person for the building. In some cases, especially in larger premises, it may be necessary to have several people performing this role. If this occurs, everyone must be clear on their duties and what needs to be done. Again, it is fine to employ someone from outside your business to do this; indeed, many people do take this route to make sure the individual has all the required skills to perform the role.
3: Eliminate legionella risks where possible
If the risk assessment has identified potential legionella risks in the water systems, the ideal scenario is to make sure such risks are prevented wherever possible. This may well involve removal of those risks so any issues are completely eliminated.
For example, the water temperature may not be ideal, in which case changes could be made to keep cold water below 20 degrees Celsius and hot water above 50 degrees Celsius. The risk assessment may identify a disused shower head or run of pipework; in this case, those should be removed to get rid of the risk.
As a simple rule-of-thumb you should always seek to keep your water clean, your hot water hot, your cold water cold, and keep it moving to avoid stagnation.
4: Control all remaining risks to minimise the chance of legionella spreading
It is not always possible to remove a legionella risk. For example, a shower may not often be used, but it could not be removed as it is still required. In this case, regular cleaning, disinfection and maintenance will reduce the risk of the build up of scale and sludge that might otherwise occur. Regular flushing through of the shower head and connected pipework would also reduce any risks seen with stagnant water.
Chemical water treatment can also reduce the risks throughout the water system, no matter how many other legionella risks there might be.
5: Maintain proper records of findings and actions you take
A formal written record is only required for businesses with five or more employees, so it might be that you do not need to keep any records at all. However, they are still very useful to have to indicate what has been done and when the actions were taken. You can also refer to them to make sure you are regularly monitoring and maintaining the system. This can often help spot potentially problematic trends and help identify other issues of concern.
Typically, records should be kept while current and applicable, and for two years after the point where they are no longer current. For example, a legionella risk assessment may identify an evaporative cooling tower as a potential source of contamination. Steps are then taken to replace that higher risk tower with a dry air system. If the replacement takes place on 1st May 2023, all records relating to the cooling tower should be kept until at least 1st May 2025. However, records that cover testing and monitoring should be retained for longer, stretching to a minimum of five years.
If in doubt, keep records – at the very least, they will help you keep track of what has been done and what you need to do in future. The more detail you add, the better.
6: Make sure you comply with the Notification of Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers Regulations 1992 (NCTEC)
This won’t apply to every business or location, of course, but if the premises do include a wet cooling tower or evaporative condenser as described by the NCTEC regulations, you must notify your local authority. They will provide notification forms for you to complete, which must be done in writing.
If this has already been done, and the legionella risk assessment identifies that removal of the cooling tower or similar should be completed, you must notify your local authority of the change, too, at the relevant time.
Controlling legionella risks in the workplace
In many instances, assessing the risks associated with legionella in the workplace is all about common sense. However, as we have seen here, we must also have the knowledge and experience to be able to conduct a risk assessment and then take the appropriate action to keep people safe. A simple water system in a rented house is fine for most people to assess, but if you are ever in any doubt, seeking the expertise of an expert is a very sensible idea.
World leading legionella risk management specialists
The water safety specialists at Legionella Control International help business owners and those responsible for the control of legionella and other waterborne pathogens manage their workplace risks to maintain regulatory compliance and keep people safe.
We are experienced water safety specialists and deliver full range of services including risk assessments for legionella, pseudomonas and other waterborne pathogens. We also offer Authorising Engineer support, compliance auditing, water quality testing, City & Guilds training and other health and safety risk management services that help keep staff and others safe.
If you would like to speak with one of our legionella specialists about improving your risk management processes call us today on 0330 223 36 86 or contact us here …
