Your duties – what you need to do

What this involves

As an employer, or someone responsible for the control of premises (including landlords) you should ensure you:

1. Identify and assess sources of risk - Carrying out a risk assessment is your responsibility. You may be competent to carry out the assessment yourself but, if not, you should call on help and advice from either within your own organisation or from outside sources, e.g. consultancies.

2. Managing the risk - As an employer, or person in control of premises, you must appoint someone competent to help you meet your health and safety duties and to take responsibility for controlling any identified risk from exposure to legionella bacteria. A competent person, often known as the responsible person, is someone with sufficient authority, competence, necessary skills, knowledge of the system, and experience.

3. Preventing or controlling the risk - You should first consider whether you can prevent the risk of legionella by looking at the type of water system you need, e.g. identify whether it is possible to replace a wet cooling tower with a dry air-cooled system. The key point is to design, maintain and operate your water services under conditions that prevent or adequately control the growth and multiplication of legionella.

4. Keeping records - If you have five or more employees you have to record any significant findings, including those identified as being particularly at risk and the steps taken to prevent or control risks. If you have less than five employees, you do not need to write anything down, although it is useful to keep a written record of what you have done.

5. Other duties - Under the Notification of Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers Regulations 1992, you must notify your local authority in writing, if you have a cooling tower or evaporative condenser on site, and include details about where it is located. You must also tell them if/when such devices are no longer in use. Notification forms are available from your local authority/environmental health department.
Although less common, other systems that do not rely solely on the principle of evaporation, are dry/wet coolers or condensers. Owing to their different principles of operation, these systems may not require notification under the Notification of Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers Regulations 1992 (NCTEC) but it is important to assess the system against the notification requirements defined in NCTEC, eg where such systems spray water directly onto the surface of the heat exchanger.

In addition, under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR), you must report any cases of legionellosis in an employee who has worked on cooling towers or hot and cold water systems that are likely to be contaminated with legionella.

What We Provide

Accredited Assessors

The Health and Saftey Executive (HSE) recommends that the first step you should take is to have a risk assessment done. This is what we can provide you with quickly and with minimum hassle using accredited assessors who can offer a professional service.

Legislation

Health & Safety at Work Regulations

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 make specific requirements for risk assessment. These regulations apply to the control of Legionella and are embodied in the Approved Code of Practice and guidance document, Legionnaires’ disease: The control of Legionella bacteria in water systems , otherwise known as ACoP L8.

Penalties for people in charge of premises.

Different Laws

Legionella is covered by a number of different laws and regulations, including:

Health & Safety at Work etc Act, 1974 – covering risks from legionella that may arise from work activities.
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, 1999.
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 – providing a framework of duties to assess, prevent and control the risk from bacteria suck as legionella.
Notification of Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers Regulations 1992 – making it a duty to notify the local authority of these installations and when they are no longer in use.

In addition, the Health and Safety Executive has published Legionnaires’ disease: The control of bacteria in water systems, which outlines the legal responsibilities of people in charge of premises and provides an approved code of practice for controlling legionella bacteria.

Any fine imposed for failing to control legionella thus depend on which legislation is used to bring a prosecution, and the level of the court imposing the penalty. As a guide, however, the following penalties are possible for breaching health and safety rules:

Magistrates’ courts can impose fines of up to £20,000. Sheriff courts in Scotland can also impose a prison sentence of up to 12 months.
Crown courts can impose unlimited fines and up to two years’ imprisonment.

In addition, if you are convicted of a health and safety offence, a court can disqualify you as a company director.

In Health and Safety breach cases, the courts have proven they are unafraid of imposing fines that have subsequently put companies out of business. In essence, if you fail to take steps to control legionella, you are very likely to receive a crippling fine or even a prison sentence.

What is Legionella?

Legionnaires' disease

Legionellosis is a collective term for diseases caused by legionella bacteria including the most serious Legionnaires’ disease, as well as the similar but less serious conditions of Pontiac fever and Lochgoilhead fever. Legionnaires’ disease is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia and everyone is susceptible to infection. It is easy for bacteria to grow if conditions are right so it is therefore important to control the risks by introducing appropriate measures.

Landlords and Legionella

Your Responsibility

As a Landlord you have a responsibility to understand and minimise the risks from Legionella in your properties. This means complying the relevant section (in chapter 3) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The Health and Safety Executive clearly states that if you are ‘someone in control of premises, including landlords, you must understand the health risks associated with legionella.’

The Approved Code of Practice: Legionnaires’ disease: The control of Legionella bacteria in water systems (L8) contains guidance on how to manage and control the risks in your system and can be found on the HSE website.

Landlords have a legal responsibility to ensure a risk assessment of the property is carried out by a competent person who has knowledge of Legionella and water systems and is up to date with the latest legislative changes. Following the findings of the report it is the Landlord’s responsibility to manage any risks, prevent or control any risks, keep and maintain correct records and carry out any other associated duties. It is the Landlord’s responsibility to know what to do to comply with the law and to take suitable precautions.

Who is competent to carry out a Legionella risk assessment?

Assessment Advice

The Assessor must have an understanding of your water systems, the equipment associated with it such as pumps, heat exchangers, showers etc, and their constituent parts. They should be able to identify whether they are likely to create a risk from exposure to legionella, and whether:

The water temperature in all or some parts of the system is between 20–45 °C,
Water is stored or re-circulated as part of your system,
There are sources of nutrients such as rust, sludge, scale, organic matter and biofilms,
The conditions are likely to encourage bacteria to multiply,
It is possible for water droplets to be produced and, if so, whether they can be dispersed over a wide area, e.g. showers and aerosols,
It is likely that any of your, residents and visitors are more susceptible to infection due to age, illness, a weakened immune system etc. and whether they could be exposed to any contaminated water droplets

What does a Legionella Risk Assessment Include?

Providing a Professional Service

Our comprehensive and compliant Legionella risk assessments include identification and evaluation of all potential sources of risk associated with Legionella within your building’s water system.

A City and Guilds qualified Legionella risk assessor visits your premises to perform a site survey.

This involves:

1. A detailed inspection of each room
2. Water temperatures taken across the site measured against acceptable ranges
3. Identification and detailed inspection of all site assets
4. Trace of all pipe work configurations and water sources
5. Identification, evaluation and prioritisation of all risks
6. Control scheme recommendations against the identified risks
7. Check of system materials to ensure compliance with WRAS (the latest water fittings regulations)
8. Photography of all site assets and risk areas

Following the site visit, the risk assessment is typed up and issued to you electronically by email.

This includes:

a) Certification of the risk assessment - appropriate for any HSE inspection
b) Overall risk rating - a quantitative way to measure risk and prioritise remedial works
c) Executive summary - a summary of findings and recommendations for initial review
d) Recommendations - a task-by-task summary of all recommendations bespoke to site
e) Site and asset inspection reports - Asset registries, useful for management records
f) Report photography - All findings clearly referenced against photographic record
g) Site schematic - Simple to follow, detailed representations of the entire site; pinpointing site assets and deadlegs against building references.

Legionella risk assessments should meet the requirements of the HSE’s ACoP L8.

Are there Legionella risks in my workplace?

1. Evaporative cooling systems - The cooling system may consist of a cooling tower, evaporative condenser or other cooling element, the re-circulating pipe work, the heat exchanger, pumps and ancillary items such as supply tanks and pre-treatment equipment.

2. Dry/wet cooling systems - These are designed to operate both in dry air cooled mode and wet evaporative cooling mode. There are different types of dry/wet cooling systems, sometimes referred to as “hybrid” or “adiabatic” coolers, and these can have a wide range of risk profiles.

3. Hot and cold water systems - There are various systems available to supply hot and cold water services that range in size, scale and complexity. All can present foreseeable risk of exposure to legionella. Temperature control is the traditional strategy for reducing the risk of legionella in hot and cold water systems. Cold water systems should be maintained, where possible, at a temperature below 20°C. Hot water should be stored at least at 60°C and distributed so that it reaches a temperature of 50°C (55°C in healthcare premises) within one minute at the outlets.

4. Spa pools - Spa-pool systems are increasingly popular and can be found in a variety of sizes and settings. They are known by various names including hot spas, hot tubs, whirlpool spas and portable spas. Such systems pose a reasonably foreseeable risk as they are a recognised source of diseases caused by infectious agents including the organism that causes legionnaires’ disease, primarily Legionella pneumophila. There have been a number of outbreaks linked to spa-pool systems in leisure centres, hotels, holiday homes, on cruise ships and on display.

5. Other risk systems - There are a number of other risk systems, e.g. humidifiers, air washers, emergency showers, eye wash sprays, indoor ornamental fountains, aqueous tunnel washers etc that could potentially be a source for legionella bacteria growth.

Any water system is potentially a reasonably foreseeable legionella risk if it has any of these factors:

1. The presence of legionella bacteria in the system water
2. Where the water temperature may be between 20-45 °C,
3. A means of creating and/or spreading breathable droplets, (aerosols)
4. Stores and/or re-circulates water
5. Likely to contain a source of food for the organism, such as contaminants from the surroundings or process including presence of sludge, rust, scale, organic matter or bioflms.

Professional Legionella Risk Assessor

Why use a professional

A professional Legionella Risk Assessor undergoes lots of detailed training and is fully versed in all of the most recent guidelines. laws and legal requirements, including how they should be applied to different kinds of water systems.

Our reports are thorough but easy to comprehend, meaning the end user has a full understanding of their obligations.

We can provide you with a professional Legionella Risk Assessor and quote for the work that needs to be undertaken.

What information do we require prior to a site visit?

1. List & Type of all internal and external water outlets, including showers, sinks, boilers, tanks, baths etc..
2. Address of the building or buildings with floorplans.
3. Contact details.

Legionella Risk Assessment