Feature
Preventing Legionnaires’ Disease using IoT Technology during COVID-19
During late September 2020, the UK’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) released a bulletin that warned premises newly opening or re-opening after Covid-19 related lockdowns would need to be assessed for Legionella risk¹, stating:
“If your building has been closed or had reduced occupancy during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, water system stagnation can occur due to lack of use, increasing the risks of Legionnaires’ disease.”
Though the world is rightly concerned about COVID-19 and facilities and property managers certainly have this contagion at the top of their agendas there, other health threats risk being forgotten. Legionnaires’ disease is a lung infection caused by legionella bacteria; it can kill an estimated 10% of those who contract it through complications associated with the infection. Unlike COVID-19 which is airborne, legionella bacteria are commonly found in water.
The first reported outbreak of Legionnaires disease, caused by legionella, was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, in 1976. Since then, there have been annual cases across the country with the last significant occurrence in 2019 at a hot tub display event in North Carolina. The outbreak killed four event attendees and caused a total of 141 cases of the disease. Today, legionnaires is a global threat.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US has seen the number of cases of Legionellosis, which includes Legionnaires disease, increasing since 2000, with nearly 10,000 cases in the US in 2018 alone – so it’s definitely something that event and building managers need to be aware of. In the UK, the HSE along with Public Health England (PHE)
is investigating a recent outbreak in West Bromwich where six people were hospitalized with suspected Legionnaires’ disease². The latest HSE bulletin highlighted that: “Recent cases of Legionnaires’ disease in the Midlands are a powerful reminder that employers, the self-employed and people in control of premises (such as landlords) have a duty to identify and control risks associated with legionella.”
Outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease, particularly in public buildings, hospitals, apartment blocks, colleges and other such
shared facilities and domiciles can usually be prevented. One method of prevention is the careful monitoring of water supply, particularly domestic hot water (DHW) distribution networks. Thanks to preventative measures often required of facilities management and enforced by regulations such as the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) and organizations such as the HSE and the CDC the legionella bacteria is not commonly found. When it does appear, it is most often due to non-compliance with health regulations, the presence of “dead arms”, a water tube where the water stagnates and this is where the Legionella will grow, and/or prolonged non-use of the system or part of the system.
36 fmuk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
