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Water Hygiene
Water System Monitoring
Integrated Compliance Services can assist you in maintaining a safe and clean water system , which is fully compliant with all legislation.
Our water system monitoring service is aimed at clients operating single sites and multi-site or complex building stock. We can provide both paper based log books and electronic cloud based log books for these services.
Our service packages can include full water hygiene compliance monitoring or just the areas not covered by your internal resource. For example:
- Shower head cleaning and descaling
- Hot Water Storage Vessel/Calorifier Annual Service and/or Inspection
- Cold Water Storage Tank Annual Inspection
- TMV maintenance
- Legionella and microbiological analysis
- Expansion Vessel service and Maintenance
The HSE advises that the risk from exposure to legionella should be prevented or controlled and that the precautions taken should be monitored and records kept to ensure that they remain effective.
In order to comply with the Health and Safety Commission Approved Code of Practice (ACOP L8) (Legionnaires’ Disease, The control of Legionella bacteria in water systems), companies are legally obliged to minimise and control the risk of legionellosis by:
- Identifying and assessing the risk of exposure
- Implementing control measures and managing precautions
- Recording actions taken
- Appointing a responsible person
Integrated Compliance Services can help you to assess and manage these risks and ensure that you remain compliant. We provide national coverage to our wide range of clients and are a are registered with the Legionella Control Association.
All of Legionella Risk Assessments are completed by City and Guilds qualified, competent and experienced professionals in accordance with British Standard BS 8580 -1.
FAQ’s
As a landlord, what are my duties?
The legal duty for landlords who provide residential accommodation to consider, assess and control the risks of exposure to Legionella to their tenants is not new. This requirement stems from the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1989; Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 makes provision for the legislation to apply to landlords of both business and domestic premises. All water systems require an assessment of the risk which they can carry out themselves if they are competent, or employ somebody who is.
In most residential settings, a simple assessment may show that the risks are low and no further action may be necessary. (An example of a typical lower risk situation may be found in a small building (eg housing unit) with small domestic-type water systems, where daily water usage is inevitable and sufficient to turn over the entire system; where cold water is directly from a wholesome mains supply (no stored water tanks); where hot water is fed from instantaneous heaters or low volume water heaters (supplying outlets at 50 °C); and where the only outlets are toilets and wash hand basins). If the assessment shows the risks are low and are being properly managed, no further action is needed but it is important to review the assessment regularly in case anything changes in the system.
Simple control measures can help control the risk of exposure to legionella such as:
- flushing out the system prior to letting the property
- avoiding debris getting into the system (eg ensure the cold water tanks, where fitted, have a tight fitting lid)
- setting control parameters (eg setting the temperature of the calorifier to ensure water is stored at 60°C)
- make sure any redundant pipework identified is removed.
Tenants should be advised of any control measures put in place that should be maintained eg not to adjust the temperature setting of the calorifier, to regularly clean showerheads and to inform the landlord if the hot water is not heating properly or there are any other problems with the system so that appropriate action can be taken. If there are difficulties gaining access to occupied housing units, appropriate checks can be made by carrying out inspections of the water system, for example, when undertaking mandatory visits such as gas safety checks or routine maintenance visits.
Where showers are installed, these have the means of creating and dispersing water droplets which may be inhaled causing a foreseeable risk of exposure to legionella. However, if used regularly (as in the majority of most domestic settings) the risks are reduced but in any case, tenants should be advised to regularly clean and disinfect showerheads. Instantaneous electric showers pose less of a risk as they are generally coldwater-fed and heat only small volumes of water during operation.
It is important that water is not allowed to stagnate within the water system and so there should be careful management of dwellings that are vacant for extended periods (eg student accommodation left empty over the summer vacation). As a general principle, outlets on hot and cold water systems should be used at least once a week to maintain a degree of water flow and minimise the chances if stagnation. To manage the risks during non-occupancy, consideration should be given to implementing a suitable flushing regime or other measures such as draining the system if it is to remain vacant for long periods.
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