IHEEM AE EVENT
The role of AE in both water and fire safety
Speaking following the day’s first presentation, by IHEEM President, Paul Fenton, at an IHEEM online event in June focusing on the important role that Authorising Engineers play in the smooth and safe running of hospitals (see also pages 17-20, and 22-23), IHEEM AE (Water), and renowned water safety system expert, David Harper, discussed some of his experience ‘at the sharp end’ – including as an expert witness – which he said underlined the value of being an independent IHEEM-registered AE. His webinar address was followed by a look, by the Chair of IHEEM’s Fire Safety Technical Platform, and Fire Safety Lead at NHSE/I, Mazin Daoud, at the Institute’s recent work to create a register for fire risk assessors.
The presentation by David Harper, who has a reputation as one of the world’s leading experts – engineering-wise – on water safety, and transmission of Legionella in particular, formed part of the opening session of the IHEEM webinar on 9 June entitled ‘The importance of the role of an IHEEM Authorising Engineer'. David Harper spoke immediately following IHEEM’s President, Paul Fenton, who, in the opening address, had described a comprehensive review by IHEEM initiated in 2019 of the Terms of Reference for its Technical Platforms, and its AE Boards of Registration. He began: “My contribution or the next 15 or so minutes will be to discuss some of my experience at what I might describe as ‘the pointed end’ of healthcare water safety. I started out as a hospital engineer, with a grand title in those days of Chief Superintendent Engineer, at a hospital in Middlesex back in 1967. Then, with various subsequent names of senior engineer, hospital engineer, and Estates manager, I landed up at Kingston District General Hospital in Surrey just outside London. The experience we had then was unbelievable, because in in July 1979 the first ever UK outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in a hospital occurred – at Kingston District General Hospital. In those early days, I’d never even heard of Legionnaires’ disease, but I soon got to grips with it, I can assure you.”
Cooling tower source
He continued: “The medical profession knew very little, and from an engineering standpoint, we knew zero. In the first instance it was to do with a cooling tower, and we discovered that the water treatment in it left a lot to be desired. I was asked to get it up and running more professionally, and introduced things like proportional dosing pumps, and bleed valves. We then had another outbreak of Legionnaires’ in the hospital in Christmas
(Clockwise from top left): Mazin Daoud, Pete Sellars, David Harper, and Paul Fenton, were among the participants in the IHEEM AE webinar on 9 June.
1979 where three people died, traced back to the hot water system in the main surgical block, now known as Esher Block.” David Harper explained that ‘in those early days’, hospital engineers used to run the water at about 45˚C, to prevent patients being scalded. He said: “We didn’t know, but we soon found out, that that was the temperature range that the Legionella absolutely love, while the 20˚C to 50˚C optimal temperature, and 37˚C and 60˚C range, and all those temperature ranges which are now accepted worldwide, came out of our experiences at Kingston Hospital, as did the pasteurisation temperature – at 70˚C. Also, because we were circulating the hot water at 60˚C, we were scalding the patients, so I was asked to get the water temperature back down again at the tap outlets.” In response, he came up with what is now known as the TMV, or
thermostatic mixing valve. He also, as he put it, ‘got going’ an anti-stratification pump, which he dubbed ‘the shunt pump’, pumping the hot water from the top of the hot water calorifier down to the base because they were vertical ones. He said: “Also out of this experience came the 50 mg/L, or 50 parts per million, measure of sodium hypochlorite, for disinfection.”
Seconded to PHE
In 1981, he was seconded to what is now Public Health England, where became an authorised engineer for public health. He also worked alongside the Health and Safety Executive, and by then had the job title of Authorising Engineer. He said: “I was a member of the original Institute of Hospital Engineers, many, many years ago – which of course is now IHEEM. From the Authorised Person standpoint,” he continued, “one must remember that
August 2021 Health Estate Journal 39
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