Prevent Legionella In Buildings During Lockdown or In Normal Operation
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Risk Assessments and Permanent Legionella Prevention Solutions
During these challenging times, many buildings are currently not in use such as offices, schools, museums, sports centres, and holiday parks. Water services that have low use and stagnant areas have an increased potential risk for legionella growth. On the other hand, hospitals, nursing homes, and residential care are in operation and are 100% focused on the health and care of their patients. In both situations (lockdown or not lockdown building) extra precautions must be undertaken to protect their exposure to Legionella bacteria.
Several local authorities provide technical guidance for legionella control, eg. the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance: hse.gov.uk/legionnaires/
Comply with legal duties
Water is used in various ways in today's factories and offices, and each use should be risk assessed as advocated by the local authorities. In order to comply with their legal duties in controlling legionella, the owners of the premises have a legal responsibility to:
- Identify and assess sources of risk
- Prepare a scheme for preventing and controlling the risk
- Implement, manage, and monitor precautions and control measures, such as frequently opening outlets for offices and sites which are not in use.
- Keep records of the precautions/control measures
- Appoint a person to have managerial responsibility
Can I Do More To Prevent Legionella Growth?
Yes. NIJHUIS DEBA can help you with a Legionella risk assessment to identify any sources of risk. The Legionella Risk Assessment forms the basis of a control scheme that is implemented and regularly reviewed to ensure compliance. The control scheme will vary in complexity from site to site and our extensive services include:
- Risk assessment logbooks
- Microbiological analysis of samples to accredited standards
- Temperature profiling
- System cleaning and disinfection
- Remedial works to approved standards
In the next article which will be published the coming weeks, we will provide the "NIJHUIS DEBA Tips to Recommission Lockdown Buildings to Prevent Legionella".
