Legionella advice for business and organisations

Businesses and organisations urged to ensure processes are in place to prevent and control the spread of harmful germs in the workplace

What is Legionella?

Legionella pneumophilia is an organism that is commonly found within water in the natural environment, such as warm ponds and lakes. The bacteria can cause Legionnaires disease and a mild form of illness called Pontiac Fever.

The creation of man-made water systems, such as spa pools, cooling towers and hot water systems can create conditions that are favourable for the bacteria to grow, which increases the risks of Legionnaires disease. It is therefore important to manage and control these risks. Harmful bacteria such as Legionella can pose a real risk to organisations who have a duty to ensure the health and safety of their employees and customers.

Outbreaks of Legionnaires disease can occur in hospitals, garden centres, car washes, leisure facilities and factories with evaporative condenser type cooling systems and can also occur in restaurants, hotels and care homes.

What are my duties/how can I control Legionella?

As highlighted in the HSE’s code of practice, employers and anyone in control of buildings are reminded of the duty to manage risks from Legionella bacteria in water systems. In particular:

Identify and assess sources of risk. This includes checking whether conditions will encourage bacteria to multiply. Water temperatures between 20–45 °C, a means of creating and disseminating breathable droplets, such as the aerosol created by cooling towers, showers and spa pools and ‘at risk’ ie susceptible people who could be exposed to contaminated aerosols.

Where there is a risk of exposure, you must:

Prepare a written scheme for preventing or controlling the risk.
Implement, manage and monitor precautions – if control measures are to remain effective, regular monitoring of the systems and control measures is essential. Monitoring general bacterial numbers can indicate whether you are achieving microbiological control and sampling for legionella is another means of checking that a system is under control
Keep records of the precautions
Appoint a competent person with sufficient authority and knowledge of the installation to help
take the measures needed to comply with the law

Further guidance is found on the Health and Safety Execute website who also include a guidance document called 'Legionnaires' disease: The control of legionella bacteria in water systems.

For further information, please contact Regulatory Services on 0345 678 9000 or email food@shropshire.gov.uk.