ACOP L8 Legionella Prevention

Do you manage premises with hot/cold water services and/or cooling towers or evaporative condensers?

Are you responsible for residential accommodation?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, then you must comply with the HSE’s revised code of practice for the control of legionella in water systems, ACOP L8.

Legionella is a name give to a group of bacteria which can be given the right conditions for growth, a potentially fatal form of pneumonia which affects the lower respiratory tract. The bacteria remains at a dormant state bellow 20 0C however if cold water cisterns and pipework temperature is allowed to rise above this the bacteria proliferates at an alarming rate. The optimum temperature for the bacteria to grow is 37C (core body temperature) this is why Legionella bacteria can take such an effect on the body. There were over 450 reported cases of Legionella recorded last year with fine in excess of £300.000 don’t be caught out, as a manager you are responsible.

Legionella can be controlled in the following ways:

Risk Assessments

The requirement to undertake risk assessments for all water systems and implement a proper control regime was included in the first HSC Approved Code of Practice dating from the early 1990’s. However there are still sites that have chosen to ignore or are not aware of the requirements and this can lead to a risk to public health and possible prosecution. Hydraguard offer a full range of services from ACOP L8 Risk Assessments, including schematic diagrams, asset lists and prioritised lists of remedial works, to completion of all the required works and ongoing maintenance.

By following the basic steps  towards effective control the problem of legionella can be prevented, at Hydraguard we have over 25 years experience of bringing water systems into line with the required standards, and providing the maintenance, record keeping and analysis required by ACOP L8.

Disinfections/Cisterns and Pipework (Mains Injection)

We drain, clean and disinfect existing systems where required, and also provide mains injection disinfections of new pipework As laid down in ACOP L8, and BS6700 standards for new systems. On – line disinfection can also be carried out if required.

After the work will then provide full validation of results with water analysis.

Cooling Towers

At Hydraguard we can assist you with your responsibilities and avoid prosecution, one of the main breeding grounds for legionella is cooling towers and evaporative condensers.  Cooling towers and evaporative condensers are only dangerous breeding grounds for Legionella when they are not managed correctly. There should be weekly monitoring by you own staff and disinfections of are carried out by trained water treatment engineers on a quarterly basis. A well maintained cooling tower has never been a risk to employees and the public only when they are not managed correctly can they become a health hazard
As well as the disinfections to the cooling towers we can also provide:

• Risk assessments & all maintenance to ACOP L8.
• Remedial works.
• Test kits.
• Training of on site staff if required.
• Logs books, and a framework to manage cooling towers.

Some useful HSE and other links to help you understand you responsibilities as employers and managers are:

Legionnaire’s disease: a guide for employers
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/iacl27.pdf

Essential information for providers of residential accommodation
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg376.pdf

Code of Conduct Association
http://www.conduct.org.uk

The Water Management Society
http://www.wmsoc.org.uk

Health and Safety Executive
http://www.hse.gov.uk/legionnaires