New legionella ACOP L8 is on its way!

Important changes to the way the UK’s Health & Safety Executive and their new ACOP L8 deal with legionella control procedures are to be implemented soon… find out how they affect you.

In what is being hailed as the most significant change to the safety rules dealing with the control of Legionella risks for over a decade, the UK’s Health & Safety Executive (HSE) will shortly issue new guidance documents and a thorough revision of their L8 Approved Code of Practice “Legionnaires’ disease. The control of legionella bacteria in water systems”.

Members of Legionella Control International’s senior consulting team have been heavily involved in the HSE’s consultation process and we anticipate that the new Legionella risk management documents will introduce a number of important changes that are likely to affect many UK organisations.

Our interim FAQ (see below) has been written to help you prepare for the changes and ensure your Legionella risk management systems remain compliant with the law.

What is the HSE’s current control system?

Currently the control of Legionella risks in the UK is dealt with by the HSE’s L8 Approved Code of Practice and guidance “Legionnaires’ disease. The control of legionella bacteria in water systems”.

What changes are likely to the ACOP L8?

Our senior consulting team anticipate that the current Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) L8 will be split to create two separate documents. These are the revised ACOP L8 and a new guidance document called HSG274.

The new ACOP L8 will focus exclusively on approved practices.

HSG274 will comprise a guidance document split into 3 parts:

• Part 1 – cooling water systems.
• Part 2 – hot and cold water systems.
• Part 3 – other risk systems.

When will the changes happen?

From our sources close to the Health & Safety Executive we understand the new ACOP L8 will be published very soon… don’t worry, we’ll email you with more details as soon as it’s published.

Parts 1, 2 and 3 of the guidance document HSG274 are expected to be published at the same time or follow on shortly thereafter… again, watch this space.

How will the changes affect me and my organisation?

Although we have been heavily involved in the HSE’s consultation process we have not seen the completed documents yet but can confirm that there will be changes and they are likely to affect the way in which legionella risks are managed in the UK.

What should I do?

Until the HSE’s new documents are published UK organisations should continue to follow the current ACOP L8.

Once the new documents are published we will be offering further support including document downloads, seminars and fully updated training courses.

How can Legionella Control International help me?

We’ll keep you fully updated and will be offering support including:

• Initial summary of changes
• After HSE publication we will email summarising the changes.
• Detailed summary

Once we’ve reviewed the documents we’ll be publishing our own summary of the major changes and how they impact you and your organisation.

Document downloads

We will make available online copies of the updated HSE documents* for you to download.

Breakfast seminars

We are currently planning a series of breakfast seminars** scheduled for locations around the UK. These short seminars will cover the important changes, what they mean for you and what you need to do. For more information or to register your interest please call us on 0330 223 36 86 or contact us here … contact us

Legionella Training courses

All our training courses (public, bespoke and online) will be updated inline with the changes.

I need help now

If you are unsure about any of the issues covered here or need further assistance please feel free to call one of our specialist team on 0330 223 36 86.