News article published: 26th February 2019
Outbreaks of Legionella bacteria in public spaces cause a health risk to the general population and significant disruption to services. Office buildings, community centres, police stations and schools are just a few examples of facilities most at risk, as all contain fairly extensive hot-and-cold water systems with multiple outlets.
All of these buildings are visited frequently by members of the public and are also a workplace for staff. This makes it much more likely that pre-existing, untreated Legionella bacteria could infect people. It is not acceptable that public buildings should fail to carry out the appropriate testing and practices recommended for facilities managers to prevent a Legionella incidence.
A recent example of this led to the partial shutting down of a police station in the UK in 2018. Legionella was detected in water systems in the cell block and the custody suite of the building, meaning that both had to be isolated indefinitely. As these were both areas of the station that were visited frequently, this represented a significant potential health risk to officers, members of the public and legal professionals.
Fortunately, no infections have so far been reported, but large-scale disruption has been caused by the closure of facilities and has had a knock-on effect at neighbouring stations, who have had to process individuals who would have been taken to the closed site. This has forced all legal counsel, officers and members of the public to travel further, causing great inconvenience and most alarmingly, there to be fewer police officers on the streets protected by the affected station. The infected areas are still closed as specialist contractors deal with the situation.
Legionella bacteria is the cause of Legionnaires Disease; a potentially fatal condition resulting from breathing in infected water particles. As the bacteria is waterborne, it can quite easily survive and spread from hot-and-cold water systems, including all pipework, taps & shower-heads, pools & fountains and air conditioning units. The disease is prevalent in the elderly and those with weakened immune systems, including smokers and people with chronic conditions like diabetes. Symptoms are similar to pneumonia and flu and may include fever, headaches, chest pain and difficulty breathing.
Facilities managers are responsible by law for ensuring the safety of all occupants in buildings under their control. They must ensure that health and safety protocols for preventing and dealing with the bacteria are in place and understood by staff. Regular testing of water outlets by a Competent Responsible Person is essential to preventing the build-up of Legionella in water systems. Maintaining water flow is important to stop the bacteria lingering in stagnant pools in pipework, while regular, systematic flushing is also strongly recommended.
We provide courses in the control and prevention of Legionella that are accredited by City & Guilds. These are designed specifically for the benefit of Building Managers, Technical & Engineering personnel and Legionella Risk Assessors. Courses cover everything from Legionella Management & Awareness to Disinfection & Risk Assessment, making them the perfect solution for comprehensive water hygiene training.
View our complete list of Legionella-based courses here. You will also find a video guide from Water Hygiene Training Manager Tony Green. Further to this you can also get in touch with us directly to find out more about the courses we offer, by contacting an Account Manager on 0333 121 1215 and by email at info@ppltraining.co.uk.