Legionella Risk Assessment

A Legionella Risk Assessment, or LRA, is a legal obligation under the Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974. The risk assessment identifies hazards and the procedures that should be followed to reduce bacteria levels when necessary. An LRA should be done by someone qualified and authorised to conduct physical and administrative checks.  

Completing an assessment may indicate no significant threats or that any hazards are being dealt with correctly; therefore, no more actions are required. It is critical to complete these evaluations regularly whenever anything changes in the water system. This article will help you understand legionella risk assessments and ensure your company has taken all the necessary precautions. 

What is Legionnaires’ disease? 

Legionella is a harmful bacteria found in water. Any natural or artificial water system with the appropriate mix of environmental conditions has the possibility of becoming a breeding environment for Legionella growth.  

When water is used, for example, by running a tap or flushing a toilet, small droplets of water are emitted as aerosol, which may transport germs into the air. Water contaminated with Legionella may cause Legionnaires’ disease or legionellosis if consumed or breathed—an infectious and frequently deadly type of pneumonia. 

Legionnaires’ disease is a highly dangerous type of pneumonia that affects some populations more than others. Although anybody may get Legionnaires’ disease, newborns, smokers, the elderly, or those with underlying health concerns are more vulnerable. 

Legionella risk assessments for keeping your location safe 

When you are working in retail at scale, it is given that many sites will have different layouts, but the risk will remain common, and checks can be standardised to manage compliance. Of course, as a retailer who interacts with the public, you are legally obligated to assess and limit the risk of legionella bacteria exposure.  

You should understand:  

• various kinds of water systems. 

• Legionella bacteria and the variables that raise the risk of an outbreak in a residential environment; and  

• control methods that, if present, minimise the risk of an outbreak in your location. 

If you have hundreds of sites, you need to think about how you will revisit and check – you could just work top to bottom down a list, or be smart and focus on the high-risk sites for revisit OR the locations that performed poorly on the last inspection. 

Using Inform People’s compliance and performance management software solution will provide thorough risk assessments at all your locations, assign any follow-up actions and centrally check what is and isn’t being done. Regular checks and following up with detailed investigations where required, keep you more focused with fewer resources required long term. 

The Legionella Risk Assessment Process 

In most circumstances, no special training is required to perform a legionella risk assessment on the property. The critical need is that the person doing the assessment be competent. 

Competency implies that the person is knowledgeable about health and safety regulations. They should also have the necessary abilities and expertise to execute the assignment successfully. 

Using Inform People’s risk assessment solution, you can make sure that only qualified team members have access to complete your LRA and that it is standardised across the business. 

Step 1: Identify the Hazards 

The first step in assessing legionella risk is to identify any possible sources of trouble on the site. Make an inventory of all the water systems on the site and note how each one potentially provides a legionella risk. According to the HSE, a legionella risk assessment is required to determine whether: 

• Water is stored or re-circulated in your water system. 
• The water temperature in some or all functional units ranges between 20–45 °C (60 and 113 degrees Fahrenheit). 

• Nutrient sources include rust, sludge, scale, and organic debris. 
• Some conditions encourage bacteria to grow. 
• Is it feasible for water droplets to form, and if so, can they be scattered across a large area? 

Step 2: Consider Who Might Be at Risk 

The next step is to identify who is the most likely to be impacted by any suspected legionella bacteria on the property. Legionella spreads to individuals through water vapour that has been aerosolised into the air. If you run cooling towers near locations where people walk or spend some time, you may be spreading Legionella into the air. Identifying where the most people are likely to be impacted will help you prioritise which sites to work on first, though you need to check all water sources, not just the riskiest. 

Step 3: Implement Control Measures 

Before initiating various legionella precautions, review any existing controls on the site and determine if they are adequate or need to be updated. Corrective actions that are appropriate include: 

• The water temperature is being monitored. 
• Regularly clean water system parts. 
• Preventing unauthorised access to water tanks and piping. 
• Removing any unnecessary plumbing. 
• Setting system parameters, such as ensuring that hot water is held above 60°C. 

Once you’ve identified the risks in your system, you may start implementing control measures to keep Legionella at bay. Maintain your system by constantly monitoring the temperature of your water and doing regular inspections and maintenance. This will assist you in detecting Legionella growth early on when it is easier to fix. 

Step 4: Keep Records 

The risk assessment results should be documented and stored for future reference and review. You may use this free legionella risk assessment template as a starting point to create your template within the Inform People solution, where you can also access all the historical risk assessment records. 

All identified risks and their management systems, as well as the duty holder’s name and a description of the water system, should be documented. You should keep these documents for at least two years. Creating documentation is a significant resource when there are queries regarding the system’s condition, and it may also be crucial in liability situations. With Inform People, risk assessment results are stored against the location in the system, so no matter who completes the audit, they will be visible through central reporting. 

Step 5: Review the Risk Assessment  

You may need to change your approach to your water system if your retail space undergoes modifications, such as expansions or repairs. You must evaluate your assessments to verify that these new features do not compromise the safe performance of your equipment. For instance, when: 

• The water system or its usage has changed. 
• New risk information or security controls become available. 
• Control measures are no longer effective, according to the findings of the tests. 
• A case of legionellosis linked to the system has been identified. 

How often should I carry out a Legionella risk assessment? 

The HSE has not specified how often you must perform Legionella risk assessments. According to the Approved Code of Practice for Legionnaires’ Disease (ACOP L8), you must preserve records of significant results for at least two years following the Legionella risk assessment. As a result, it is advised that the structure of your legionella risk assessments be evaluated and updated at least two years if there are changes that potentially alter the risk. We suggest you should complete an LRA at least once every two months. 

Why use Inform People for your risk assessment? 

Any organisation that wants to manage and mitigate risk must perform a variety of risk assessments. As a business responsible for multiple sites, the challenge is more significant than many retailers will face. Checks should be simple, quick, and easy to follow without extensive training. When issues are identified, you can focus your efforts on a smaller number of sites in detail rather than trying to cover hundreds of sites with a small team.  

Inform People are professionals and focus on businesses with multiple sites where you must ensure all sites are safe and assess risk regularly. If you have a business with lots of locations, then Inform People allows the same standardised audits and risk assessments to be undertaken across the whole business at the same time by qualified individuals at each venue. Based on our previous experience working with some of the UK’s largest retailers, we know that checks should be simple, quick, and easy to follow – without the need for extensive training.  

We also see the importance when issues are identified that you can have the ability to drill down to focus your efforts on a smaller number of sites in detail and manage fixes by exception. As we have witnessed in the last COVID-19 pandemic, the risk of any disruption is significant.  

Click here to schedule a call if you would like to discuss how to deploy a system audit for your Legionella risk assessment.