FOCUS HEALTH & SAFETY
REDUCE THE RISK
According to the British Lung
Foundation, Legionnaires’
Disease is a serious pneumonia
caused by the legionella bacteria.
People become infected when
they inhale water droplets from a
contaminated water source such
as cooling towers, air conditioning
systems and spa pools. Early
symptoms include muscle aches,
tiredness, headaches, a dry cough
and fever. Sometimes people may
also have diarrhoea and develop
confusion. The symptoms of
pneumonia are a cough, shortness
of breath and chest pain. It’s no
wonder then that the authorities
take reports of legionella outbreaks
very seriously.
For example, in December 2018,
Tendring District Council was fined
a er a member of public contracted
Legionnaires’ Disease having been
a regular user of its leisure centre
facilities. Colchester Magistrates’
Court heard how the member of
public frequently used the showers at
Walton Lifestyles when, in November
2016, he fell seriously ill and was
taken to hospital where he remained
for 18 days. He was diagnosed
with Legionnaires’ disease, sepsis,
pneumonia and chronic kidney
failure. Water samples taken from
the men’s shower tested positive
for the Legionella bacteria. Another
case regrettably led to the death of
42 MARCH 2019
a hospital patient who contracted
Legionnaires’ disease while in care.
However, every sector is open to the
risk of Legionella bacteria breeding
in its hot and cold water systems and
those responsible for every building or
facility have an obligation to protect
staƒ and visitors from the risk.
It’s less commonly known that
Legionella contamination can be
devasting to those beyond the walls
of your building or facility. When
contaminated water droplets enter the
air through an aerosol such as the type
commonly seen on cooling towers, the
risk can be carried further than you
might imagine.
One case in the late 90s resulted in
the death of a driver who contracted
the disease by inhaling airborne
Legionellacontaminated
water
droplets while driving approximately
a mile away from the site where the
contamination had occurred.
The risk is very real and those in
charge of buildings and facilities
must take the necessary precautions
to control this risk. However, it’s not
exactly easy to detect the symptoms of
a poorly managed water system that
encourages Legionella growth.
CODES OF PRACTICE
There are defined codes of practice to
help understand how to measure and
control the Legionella risk. The HSE
has issued Approved Codes of Practice
(ACoP) including L8 which outlines the
recommended requirements for the
control of Legionella bacteria in water
systems and HSG 274 which outlines
what businesses must do to comply
with L8.
For buildings and facilities used
in healthcare, the codes of practice
are noticeable tougher and this
for good reason. Hospital patients
including elderly, newborn
and
immunosuppressed patients are
among the most susceptible to
Legionella infection and must
therefore be given greater protection.
Healthcare organisations are therefore
required to adhere to the Department
of Health and Social Care’s HTM 0401
guidance on the management of water
supply systems.
While these codes of practice clearly
outline what is required in terms of
Legionella assessment and treatment,
building or facility managers that
require additional guidance or
simply lack the time and resource
to implement the recommended
measures should seek out a risk
assessment consultant that has the
relevant expertise to ensure they are
taking the right preventative measures
and operating to full compliance.
ASSESSMENT & ACTION
The first step in controlling the risk is
assessing your water system. HSG 274
identifies three areas that should be
subjected to risk assessment and these
are; cooling towers, hot and cold water
systems and any other system that
poses a risk – namely any system that
produces airborne water droplets.
A comprehensive assessment should
include the inspection of obsolete
pipework (known as ‘dead legs’ or
‘deadends’)
such as piping to unused
taps where water can stagnate and
encourage the growth of Legionella
bacteria. Remedial action should then
take place to remove any dead legs
from the water system, eliminating the
opportunity for water to stagnate and
create a risk.
Hemp joints are another common
area where Legionella bacteria can
breed. Hemp joints are notorious for
capturing and storing bacteria and
as a remedial action, these should be
replaced with a safer alternative to
hemp that does not encourage the
growth of bacteria.
Flexible hoses are commonly lined
with a material called EPDM (ethylene
propylene diene monomer). This
material can encourage the growth
of Legionella bacteria. While hoses
constructed with EPDM are banned
in healthcare environments, they
can o en be found in water systems
in other sectors. As remedial action,
these can be replaced by nonEPDM
hoses or solid copper fittings.
Major assets must also be inspected.
From cold storage tanks to calorifiers
(hot water heaters) and cooling towers,
major assets must be inspected for
scale, corrosion and sediment which
are all warning signs that Legionella
bacteria may be present in the system.
Remedial action to remove risk can
include the cleaning and disinfection
of these major assets.
A Legionella risk assessment must
also include a schematic drawing
of the building’s water systems and
temperature profile of both the assets
and outlets
A FOOL PROOF PROGRAMME
Legionella risk assessments must be
carried out by a competent individual
who is confident that they have a full
understanding of the relevant codes of
practice. While your building or facility
management might make every eƒ ort
to ensure full safety and compliance,
assigning the responsibility to an
underqualified
individual can result in
noncompliance
and an unsafe
water
system.
In many cases, building and FMs will
outsource the responsibility of risk
assessment and remedial action to an
experienced water treatment provider.
When searching for an experienced
provider it’s important to ensure
you’re being oƒ ered more than a
onesizefitsall
solution and that the
provider can instead tailor a bespoke
risk assessment and risk management
solution to your specific business.
Each building or facility will have
its own sitespecific
risks and it’s
essential that your water treatment
provider recognises these risks and
builds a programme around them. By
utilising the expertise of qualified and
experienced risk assessment experts,
buildings and facilities across the UK
can take control over the growing risk
of Legionella in their water systems.
With Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks and the discovery of Legionella
bacteria in water systems being such a serious issue, Jamie Tranter,
Clearwater Technology, shares some useful advice on controlling the risk