It is essential that businesses, facility managers, and premises owners – including landlords – are aware of the legal obligations they are under when it comes to legionella risk assessments.

Carrying out regular tests helps to maintain water quality and prevent the spread of the harmful bacteria known to cause the potentially fatal Legionnaires’ Disease.

Here’s a look at the required legal safeguards and what else can be done to minimise risks.

Regulation & Requirements

1) Identify possible sources of legionella exposure

This tends to be where water temperature in all or some parts of the system is between 20-45°C, where water is being stored or re-circulated or where bacteria are likely to multiply, as a result of sources of nutrients such as rust, sludge or scale. Risk of exposure to legionella will then be greatest at the point where water droplets are produced and dispersed over a wide area, for example from showers or cooling tower aerosols. There is no set time period between when you should carry-out legionella risk assessments, but inspections should be regular and must be more frequent where risks are greatest.

2) Manage the risk

Once you have carried out an assessment that identifies possible sources of legionella exposure, there is a legal requirement to manage this risk. These control methods should include avoiding water temperatures and conditions that favour the growth of legionella and other micro-organisms, ensuring water is not stagnating in the system, and keeping the system and the water in it clean. You must also be clear as to who is ultimately responsible for managing the risk

3) Keep records

Your records must report significant findings carried out during risk assessments. You should also detail preventative steps taken to reduce and control these risk and dates of when any monitoring inspections, tests or treatments were carried out.

Best Practices

In addition to legal obligations, there are also a number of best practices also worth considering in order to ensure you maintain good water quality.

1) Bring in the experts

There may be no legal barrier to organisations carrying out their own legionella risk assessments but it pays to bring in outside experts. Additional monitoring and treatment may be required and an external pair of eyes is the best way to check your current system is best equipped for minimising the threats posed by legionella.

2) Implement a water management scheme

Having a water management scheme in place not only prevents and controls current risk, it also provides a future plan for ensuring all maintenance and development of you water system is legally compliant.

3) Train others to be vigilant

At BrodexTrident, as well as offering comprehensive legionella risk assessments and water management schemes, we also provide many of our clients’ staff with digital thermometers, record sheets and basic training so they are aware of where dangers are likely to occur and how best to tackle them.