Legionella risk assessment: Commercial property case study
Act fast for easier legionella compliance
Legionella risk assessments are just the starting point for full Legionella compliance. Too many companies assume that the assessment makes them compliant. Not so.
Once a Legionella risk assessment is completed, actions might need to be taken to protect health and remain compliant. Actions could include things like system cleaning or disinfection, replacing dirty water tanks, other system maintenance, setting compliance water temperatures or water sampling and testing.
Taking action sooner rather than later protects human health and saves time, money and a lot of stress. A company asked us for help as they’d found this out the hard way. Someone got sick and their compliance was in question.
Read on to learn from their mistakes!
Compliance summary
RISKS IDENTIFIED
Dirty water storage tanks
Non-compliant hot water temperatures
Heavily scaled taps
Outlets not in use (dead legs)
ACTION NEEDED
Cleaning and replacing cold water storage tanks
Adjusting hot water temperatures
Removing or isolating dead legs
Descaling taps
Legionella water sampling
Dirty water storage tanks create a higher risk from Legionella. Bacteria like to feed on sludge and other debris. Keeping tanks secure and clean helps reduce the risks from Legionella.
What happened?
A Legionella risk assessment had been carried out at an office space in an older building, which had been converted into office and other commercial space. The risk assessment highlighted several areas that needed action to be taken to reduce the risks from Legionella bacteria.
Unfortunately, there was a delay in the suggested actions being carried out. In parallel to this, a member of their staff was sadly taken ill and Legionella was detected in their hospital test results. Thankfully the member of staff recovered.
Questions were rightly raised about the source of the bacteria. How did this person become ill? Did they come into contact with Legionella bacteria at work? This situation created a whole lot of extra work stress for the business. There were much bigger questions and concerns raised because the compliance actions were not carried out after the risk assessment. It also cost a few thousand pounds extra to put right - additional sampling and other work was needed.
But, more importantly, the company was not fully Legionella compliant in the eyes of the law and that could have been easily avoided.
LESSONS LEARNED
NEVER ASSUME
Never assume your Legionella risk assessment makes you compliant. Always complete the suggested actions.
ALWAYS ACT FAST
Always complete suggested actions as quickly as possible to protect health and prevention fines.
ONGOING CARE
Updates risk assessments at least every two years. And ask for help if you're unable to maintain your system yourself.
NEED HELP?
Compliance can be daunting. That’s why companies like us exist. We know compliance inside-out, it’s what we do. Call for a free quote on 0333 0902090.
