FSM
Features
A League Why Legion
significant threa Jamie Tranter. By Jamie Tranter, C
With Legionella contamination cases becoming increasingly frequent, it could be time to step up your control measures to protect your fans, staff and players from contracting deadly Legionnaires’ disease. There have been recent reports of Legionella outbreaks in the UK’s hospitality and healthcare sectors, with one case regrettably leading to the death of a hospital patient who contracted Legionnaires’ while in care. 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 staff and visitors from the risk. Whether your ground or stadium
seats 6,000 or 60,000, you have an obligation to protect every person visiting the site from the Legionella risk. But that obligation also extends beyond
the stadium gates. 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 Legionella- contaminated water droplets while driving approximately a mile away from the site where the contamination had occurred. The risk is very real and necessary
precautions must be taken to control this risk. However, it’s not exactly easy to detect the symptoms of a poorly managed water system that encourages Legionella growth.
Following the 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. 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.
Risk Assessment and Defensive Action The first step in controlling the risk is assess- ing 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.
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