It is a legal requirement on the ‘budget holder’ to ensure the safety of water systems within their building. They are required to ensure ‘a suitable and sufficient assessment’ is carried out to ‘identify and assess the sources and risks of Legionella bacteria’ exposure from water systems.
The risk assessments assists the risk assessor to gauge the risk posed by legionellosis in a wide range of situations and where necessary make recommendations to reduce and control that risk. The evidence of implementation of recommendations allow you to demonstrate compliance with relevant health and safety legislation.
The legionella organism is of particular concern because it is widespread in natural water sources and multiplies rapidly in the conditions found in some building water systems. It is released into the air in water droplets and may be spread by a number of systems commonly found in buildings. It can be devastating and result in the loss of life.
Significant changes made to the law this year mean that the risk assessment is no longer simply a guidance document. It must be conducted in accordance with the requirements of ACoP L8 and BS8580:2010. In order to comply with your legal duties, you must also ensure that a competent person (or persons) implement a monitoring programme in accordance with the recommended inspection frequencies detailed in ACoP L8 and HSG274.
As part of the service we will support you in by providing the following:
See the Legionella monitoring programme page for more details on additional services available outside the SLA subscription.
(This does not include the contractor’s charges for the cost of the risk assessment or any follow up work that is required).
