Practical Guidance And Template For Legionella Risk Assessment

Contents

1 Practical Guidance And Template For Legionella Risk Assessment
2 Introduction
3 Not a member of the Guild?
4 Legionnaires’ disease

Introduction

This page provides practical guidance on doing your own risk assessment for risks associated with the control of Legionellosis bacteria.

We would recommend using our specially designed iAuditor template for iOS or Android device which simply requires downloading a free app and then our template. It is very quick and intuitive to use and will save considerable time in our view. The app only works on iOS or Android devices but the reports can be exported in many formats (including PDF and Word) onto a desktop computer. What’s more Safetyculture (who make the iAuditor app) offer a service where templates and audits can be synchronised between iOS and Android devices. This may require a separate subscription to our template.

You may use the template on up to 10 devices owned by you or your company under the licence.

Not a member of the Guild?

The template, forms and guidance are available for free to subscribers of the Guild. However, if you’re not a member of the Guild, it’s not a problem! You can purchase our “legionella pack” which costs £19.00 and includes 12 months free updates plus 12 months full access to this guidance page. The legionella pack includes:

Legionella risk assessment template for the iAuditor App
Paper legionella risk assessment form
Paper legionella risk assessment checklist
Tenants information leaflet about controlling legionella
Full access to this legionella risk assessment guidance page (for 12 months)
Use the template on up to 10 devices owned by you or your company

You can access all these files from here.

Remember, you need to install the iAuditor app first so please download that before purchasing to check the template will work on your device (if you can get iAuditor working, our template will work).

Refund policy

We offer a full 30 day no quibble refund if you are not entirely satisfied with our template (only available to purchases of the template by non-subscribers of the Guild as the template is included for free with Guild subscription).

Download the risk assessment template

To see the latest version and a history of changes made, please see the product page for the template.

Step 1 – download the free iAuditor app onto your device

Step 2 – Only once step 1 has been done (otherwise the template won’t be recognised) download our template* using the device you have installed the app on and using the default browser (e.g. Safari on iOS). When prompted select “open in iAuditor”. Alternatively you could download to a desktop and email to the device iAuditor is installed on and open in the default email client (e.g. Mail in iOS). Install on up to 10 devices owned by you or your company.

*Important: the free iAuditor app has a public directory of templates and by downloading ours you agree NOT to put our template on the public directory.

The advantage of using the iAuditor app is that it can publish remarkably professional looking reports, record your audits, remind you of any reviews and there are in-app purchases available (not required for our template) to further enhance the usage of the app.

Screenshots

You can see a sample legionella risk assessment report produced from the iAuditor template here.

We have also produced a simple to use paper legionella checklist which is handy if you are going to ask your plumber to gather specific basic information about the installation.Finally, we have a paper version of a legionella risk assessment available for download here. This also includes the simple checklist.

At the bottom of this page is a video showing a live risk assessment and the app.

Legionnaires’ disease

Legionellosis is a collective term for diseases caused by legionella bacteria including the most serious legionnaires’ disease, as well as the similar but less serious conditions of Pontiac fever and Lochgoilhead fever. Legionnaires’ disease is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia and everyone is susceptible to infection. The risk increases with age, but some people are at higher risk, eg people over 45, smokers and heavy drinkers, people suffering from chronic respiratory or kidney disease, diabetes, lung and heart disease or anyone with an impaired immune system.

The bacterium Legionella pneumophila and related bacteria are common in natural water sources such as rivers, lakes and reservoirs. They may also be found in purpose-built water systems, such as hot and cold water systems and spa pools. If conditions are favourable, the bacteria may multiply, increasing the risks of legionnaires’ disease, and it is therefore important to control the risks by introducing appropriate measures.

Legionnaires’ disease is normally contracted by inhaling small droplets of water (aerosols), suspended in the air, containing the bacteria which is why showers and spa baths are higher risk. There is no risk from drinking contaminated water.

The need for a risk assessment

We have previously written about the requirements for a risk assessment in respect of legionella which after a change to the Approved code of practice and guidance (ACOP) became more of a requirement for landlords when the scope of the guidance included smaller water systems and storage tanks of less than 300l.The guidance states:

All systems require a risk assessment, however not all systems will require elaborate control measures. A simple risk assessment may show that the risks are low and being properly managed to comply with the law. In such cases, you may not need to take further action, but it is important to review your assessment regularly in case of any changes in your system, and specifically if there is reason to suspect it is no longer valid.

The Law

Various laws govern the requirement for a landlord or agent to complete a risk assessment namely:

Heath and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

Section 2(1) would normally cover agents as it requires all employers to ensure so far is reasonably practicable the health and safety of all employees. Section 3(1) continues to require that employers or self employed persons (which will include landlords) must ensure all persons not in their employment are not exposed to risks of their health and safety.

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH)

Regulation 6 of the COSHH provides both employers and self-employed persons (agents and landlords in this context) shall not carry out work which is liable to expose any person to any substance hazardous to health unless a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk has been made.

Approved Code of Practice and Technical Guidance – L8

The ACOP and accompanying technical guidance makes it clear that legionella is a hazardous substance for the purpose of the COSHH regulations and provides the guidance which will assist with the making of a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risk (risk assessment for short).

This Guidance

Here we provide some practical guidance and a form for the production of a Legionella risk assessment. The guidance and form is suitable for a low risk domestic property where there is either a combination boiler or basic water storage for hot water which is being used daily.

... Please login or signup to continue reading this content