Things to Know Before Carrying out a Legionella Risk Assessment for Safety

Carrying out a Legionella Risk Assessment is a legal requirement under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. All managers across different organizations and sectors have a duty of care towards the people under them.

This process should be done by a person with competence and authority to take physical and administrative checks. Ensuring legionella compliance requires working with the right water hygiene professionals. Also, you will receive practical advice on reducing the chances of your workers contracting this fatal disease.

Where can Legionella bacteria grow?

Legionnaires is a disease caused by a type of bacteria called legionella. This bacterium commonly grows in the environment, usually in water. It grows best in warm water, such as hot tubes, hot liquid tanks, large plumbing systems, and decorative fountains that are not well maintained.

They don’t grow in cars or window air conditioners. People contract this disease when they breathe in almost any vapor containing the bacteria. Legionnaires is a noncommunicable disease, meaning it can’t be spread from one person to another, which makes it a lesser threat than other diseases.

Healthy people don’t easily get infected with legionella bacteria after first or second exposure. The people at risk are those with existing health conditions or above fifty years, smokers, those with chronic lung diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders and emphysema, or people with weak immune systems.

The disease symptoms are similar to lung infection and pneumonia, which anybody familiar with this infection knows is hard to diagnose at first. Some symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, high fever, muscle aches, and headache.  The symptoms usually show within two to ten days of exposure.

When should you conduct a Legionella Risk Assessment (LRA)?

According to industry standards, the Legionella Risk Assessment should be conducted at least every two years. However, the Approved Code of Practice L8 (ACoP L8) advises carrying out this assessment frequently if you have a valid reason to do so to keep the assessment updated. Visit https://www.waterhygienecentre.com/blog/acopl8-hsg274-legionella for more information on the Approved Code of Practice L8 (ACoP L8).

You can equally reach out to Total Water Compliance via the address below to ensure a proper Legionella risk assessment:

Legionella Risk Assessment (LRA) may be required for these reasons:

• If there are vulnerable people with health risks among workers
• Vacant units occupancy
• Change in water system design or usage
• Report cases of the disease
• Repair or maintenance work on the water system or
• Failure of control measure

Overall, you should conduct an LRA every time some changes can lead to the growth or spread of the bacteria.

What is involved in a Legionella risk assessment?

A Legionella risk assessment involves reviewing your current records and checking your previous assessment to ensure you have acted on all the recommended remedial works and maintenance. The assessment occurs in two phases:

• First, a physical inspection and consultation with everyone involved in controlling the bacteria is carried out, along with management procedures and paperwork verifications.
• The second phase requires site touring with a specific focus on areas where water is stored or areas with the potential for aerosol creation.

Click here to learn more about Legionella risk assessments.

Based on these findings, a report focusing on six crucial areas will be prepared.

1. Assessing the level of risk of the people in the area, are there people susceptible to the disease may be due to health conditions or age.
2. Describing the cold and hot water systems with a focus on whether they are main feds, from water storage, or a combination of the two or something else.
3. Next is recording the water outlet temperature. Generally, water service needs to be operated at a temperature that limits the growth of bacteria. Which is usually below 20°C cold and above 50°C hot unless there is a secondary disinfection stored or other supplementary strategies.
4. Assessing the water systems and ensuring they are accessible, insulated, and covered properly to prevent harmful bacteria from entering the water.
5. Next is analyzing the hot water system, whether is it an unvented cylinder, combi-boiler, cylinder fed, or any other water system, and whether the distribution pipes are correctly insulated.
6. Check for other risks, including whether the showers and mixing valves are installed and well-maintained correctly. If any dead legs, redundant or not-so-useful pipework, are not working properly, they must be removed or changed. Are areas left unattended for a long time, or is there a scheduled schedule for regular flush water systems?

Conclusion

In conclusion, as long as you have a water system in place, assessing them for risk of legionella bacteria is essential. For a simple office space, rented floor, or any other small unit, the risk assessment doesn’t need to be elaborated and can be carried out at a cost-effective price without disruption. Failure to follow these rules and regulations may lead to the risk of litigation and potential prosecution should an unfortunate event occur.