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New office in Staffordshire

Expanding Legionella Control Services in Staffordshire

Legionella control Staffordshire: In response to the successful expansion of our business in the Midlands region over the past year, Dantek is proud to announce the opening of a new office in Staffordshire. This strategic move allows us to better serve both new and existing clients in the Midlands area. Over the initial 12-month period, our central team has secured multiple contracts.

With over two decades of collective experience in legionella control, our Midlands team is led by Holly Jakes, a seasoned professional with a decade of tenure at Dantek. Holly’s unwavering dedication to maintaining the highest service standards and preventing Legionnaires’ disease has been instrumental in driving our growth in the region, all while upholding Dantek’s core values.

Reflecting on our achievements, Holly remarked, “The past year has been marked by significant success, with Dantek’s reputation in the Midlands spreading through word of mouth and recommendations. Our comprehensive services cover all aspects of legionella control, from risk assessments to monthly water monitoring, water treatment, cooling towers, and plumbing remedials. While we benefit from the support of our Thornbury head office, our local management ensures a seamless experience for our clients, from initial inquiry to project completion.”

Based in Cannock and Gloucester, our central team continues to expand, collaborating closely with local businesses, schools, and universities to promote water safety and hygiene.

For more information on how Dantek can assist you in safeguarding your water systems, please contact sales@dantek.co.uk.

http://www.dantek.co.uk

How much should a Legionella risk assessment cost?

 

How long does a legionella risk assessment take
How much is a legionella risk assessment?

Your concerned about compliance and you want a good company, but still, budgets are tight, you need the best value, so what do you need to tell contractors to get a fair price? Or get quotes you could compare? And how do these people work it out anyway? I will attempt to throw some light on the occasionally opaque world of Legionella or water risk assessment pricing.

As a start point I have assumed that you are only going to be dealing with reputable contractors who are specialists in the industry, generally members of the Legionella control association, possibly UKAS accredited, who can prove they are competent and have a solid track record. There have been operators in the marketplace who will ‘buy’ risk assessment contracts with the intention of raking the money back on follow-on works and contracts, this is a clear conflict of interest, and I advise avoiding it.

A Legionella risk assessment is a form of consultancy, which means it is, for the most part, a labour only service. This means the big question is – how long is it going to take? Once we figure this out, multiply the time by a day rate and bingo! A price.

Top tip; Ask what the standard day rate is for a surveyor, but be careful, some include administration time some don’t.

Estimating how long a survey will take is a fine art, but there are some variables to consider:

Geography

Where is the site? Or where are the sites? Travel time is working time, and you pay for it. Ideally, you’ll use someone local if you have a big single site or cluster of buildings, but sometimes this isn’t practical. If you have many disparate sites, you can get some great economies on a round robin or road trip type basis. Also, these are fun for the surveyors. Years ago, I risk assessed every driving test centre in Scotland on a road trip basis and had a great time.

Once you understand the logistics of getting the surveyor to and from the site, how long will they be there? The two big factors in this debate are; what water services have you got? And how hard will they look? The second point can be contentious, so I’ll deal with what you’ve got first.

Water Assets and system complexity

I have seen many different approaches to convey what is on site, varying from line item asset registers, copies of the previous risk assessments to lists of the gross internal areas of properties. The surveyor’s point of view generally stems from, how difficult is this system going to be for me to understand and how many assets do I have to survey? For example, a large modern office block could seem like a big beast but in reality, may have plant room in the basement, a single wet riser by the lift shaft, toilets and kitchenettes on each floor plus a couple of cleaners cupboards, simple. In contrast, a stately home converted to halls of residence can contain multiple systems and a dog’s breakfast of assets and pipework that would reduce the finest to tears.

Top tip: Give what information you have, including building use, number of stories, and location

 

The industry refers to all hot and cold-water systems for toilets, sinks, showers etc. as domestic systems. These are almost universally included in risk assessments, but what about cooling towers, industrial uses of water, humidifiers, water features, medical equipment? The survey should cover all water assets one way or another.

In the industry, we benefit from huge amounts of experience so in talking about your buildings we build a picture of what we are dealing with, by being as honest and open as you can you will get the most realistic estimate possible.

The depth of the survey

If you have been on the forums this is a hot potato; the fastidious independent contractors shout down the ‘stack’em high sell it cheap’ brigade for being cowboys and the quick ‘all done on an iPad survey’ crew retort about over-egging the pie. The truth is the risk assessment must be suitable and sufficient, just as the lower the risk, the less you have to do, the converse is also true. There is a place for the iAuditor type surveys on lower risk properties, retail outlets, provincial train stations and minor highways depots etc.

Conversely, if you’re looking after NHS estates, your burden is much greater. The best advice I can give is to view example documents on properties similar to yours, talk to the contractor and understand what they intend to return. You need to feel comfortable the contractor has your best interests front and centre, and they are not ‘flogging you what they’ve got’.

Begin with the end in mind

The Legionella risk assessment certainly ticks a box for compliance but if done well is a tremendous source of information regarding your water assets. Think about practical outputs, for example, how do you expect to see non-compliances reported? Do you want them separated in a way you could pass to a mechanical contractor or your onsite plumbing team?

Talking to your suppliers about Legionella control in a wider context beyond the risk assessment can pay dividends in understanding how the document could support your efforts to implement a successful control regime later on. You’ll be amazed what you can get for free during the risk assessment process just by asking, consider;

  • Do you want accurate schematics drawn in AutoCAD?
  • Would it be handy if the pipe runs are overlaid on your existing building schematics?
  • Would you like an electronic copy of the asset register in excel?
  • Do you want the assets in an electronic logbook as part of the deal?

A word about water samples

There is no hard or prescribed requirement to take microbiological samples during the risk assessment process, in our company we don’t take them as a matter of course but others do. I could write another thousand words on the pros and cons of sampling, but ultimately, to compare quotes you need to understand if they have been included for and if so how many. The current market rate for a Legionella test at a UKAS accredited laboratory is about thirty pounds so cost can be significant if a meaningful number of samples are taken.

 

At the end of the day

All risk assessment quotes have at their core an estimation of how long the survey is going to take and the report to produce, as a buyer you should understand and be comfortable that your supplier will do a job that is acceptable to you in the time they have quoted. At the bulk end of the market, if you are paying one hundred pounds or less for a risk assessment, your contractor is expecting to do four or more sites per day and is not expecting to find very much. Industry rates vary from three hundred to six hundred pounds per day for a qualified Legionella risk assessor as a guideline.

There are many decent companies out there all of them should welcome sensible discussions on the big question – how long is it going to take?

Dantek are a specialist provider of Legionella control services including Legionella risk assessments.

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When does a Legionella risk assessment need to be updated?

Legionella risk assessment update
How often should a legionella risk assessment be reviewed?

Keeping a legionella risk assessment current and up to date is a requirement under Health and Safety law.  By following the 6 key indicators below you will know when an update is required, or if your risk assessment is current and valid and no further actions are required until the next review.

The ACoP L8 does not state a set timeframe for a legionella risk assessment to be updated, it is not a requirement to update it annually or biennially, as so often thought. The frequency of the update will depend on the risks associated with any given system defined in the risk assessment document and changes which effect it over time.

The risk assessment must be updated when the Duty holder reviews it and believes it is no longer current or valid. Depending on the risks associated with the system this could be years’ for a low risk property where nothing has changed, to much more regular updates for a high risk system.

A Dantek legionella risk assessment document will suggest a review date based on the risk factors identified, but should any of the following 6 changes occur in the meantime the risk assessment must be updated at that point.

Even for low risk properties where no further actions were required as a result of the risk assessment, the control measures put in place must be maintained and monitored to ensure they remain effective. The assessment of risk is therefore an ongoing process.

Duty holders must make arrangements to review the legionella risk assessment regularly and also if they believe it is no longer valid.

There are 6 key indicators to know when to review a legionella risk assessment. If any of the following occur then the risk assessment must be reviewed and any changes updated within the document.

6 key indicators to review a legionella risk assessment

1. The water system has been changed or is being used differently
2. The building use changes
3. New information becomes available about the risk or control measures
4. Monitoring indicates the control measures set out in the risk assessment are no longer effective
5. Key changes of personnel, for example; the Duty holder or Responsible person identified in the legionella risk assessment
6. There has been an outbreak of legionnaires’ disease associated with the system

Change to the water system or use

Changes to the water system could include for example; the addition or removal or cold-water storage tanks or other assets such as calorifiers. Changes in pipework or the lay out of the system will also need to be assessed and included in an update. Changes to any given water system can result in deadlegs being inadvertently created, which can provide an environment for legionella bacteria to grow and multiply. It is often the case that changes to a water system can cause little used outlets which again can provide a habitat for legionella bacteria to thrive. These factors would impact the risk associated with a system so the risk assessment and control measures would have to be updated to reflect this.
Up to date schematic drawings showing the lay out of the system within a building must be included within a legionella risk assessment. Should the layout change or any of the assets identified on the schematic change then the drawing must be updated to reflect these alterations. A schematic of a domestic hot and cold water system will include cold water storage tanks, calorifiers, showers, water softeners, pumps, strainers and all outlets within a system.

2. Changes to the building use

Changes to the use of the building can impact the risk if the people using the building are considered to be at a higher risk of infection and are more susceptible to legionnaires’ disease. Alternatively if the use of the water in the building changes, for example; less people are using the building so the water in the system stagnates and little used outlets are effectively created. A building can have an oversized amount of stored water if the use changes from residential to commercial for example.
The risk assessment must also be updated if there is any new construction work which affects the water system. The building of an annex or extension to a property must be reflected in the risk assessment. Clearly any plant or assets which are removed need to also be updated and the impact of this considered in relation to legionella bacteria.

3. Changes to current HSE guidance

A legionella risk assessment should be updated in light of any changes made to the current HSE guidance for the prevention and control of Legionnaires’ disease. When changes are made to the guidance documents it is important to implement these recommendations into the control scheme should they be relevant to your site.

4. Monitoring is no longer effective

The risk assessment will provide the basis for the control scheme and the monitoring which will take place to ensure the control measures are effective. If the monitoring results indicate the control measures are not working or are ineffective then it is crucial to review the legionella risk assessment to make alterations to the regime or recommend an alternative method of controlling the risk of legionella bacteria growing within the system.

5. Changes to key personnel

It is a requirement for employers to appoint an individual(s) to take responsibility for managing the risk from legionella bacteria on their sites. Therefore; should any of these key people change the risk assessment must be updated to reflect exactly who is responsible for what tasks.
Key personnel can include the following:
Statutory site duty holder – a senior executive with budgetary control who ensures that the operation complies with the law, by appointing and overseeing a competent responsible person.
Nominated responsible person – senior staff member who holds budget. This person reports to the duty holder and have day to day responsibility for ensuring that operational duties are carried out in a timely and effective manner, and ensure adequate training and competence of themselves, operational staff and any contractors or subcontractors. This person is also responsible for the accurate audit of the site log book.
Operational staff – duties include inspection, monitoring, implementing, record keeping and carrying out remedial actions. There should be adequate records of their on-going training and regular assessment of their competence.

6. An outbreak of legionnaires’ disease

An outbreak of legionnaires’ disease where the source of infection is traced back to a specific system a complete review of the control measures, records and practice will be investigated. The risk assessment will need to be reviewed to see whether the control measures were being followed correctly and what changes and improvements can be made to prevent any further outbreaks and to reduce the risk to an acceptable level.

Summary

Carrying out a legionella risk assessment is the first step to preventing and controlling legionella bacteria, however it is a process and must be kept up to date for it to remain effective. It is possible for the Duty holder or Responsible person to make some of the changes to the risk assessment document themselves particularly for minor amendments which can often result from a desktop audit. For the more complicated system changes it may be advisable to contact your water hygiene service company and seek their advice about how to update the assessment. By keeping your risk assessment up to date and current you will take comfort from the fact that you are taking all the correct actions to prevent and control the risk of legionnaires disease within the properties you are responsible for.

Further reading:
• ACoP L8 4th edition “The control of legionella bacteria in water systems”.
• HSE HSG274 Legionnaires’ disease: Part 2: The control of legionella bacteria in hot and cold-water systems.
• BS8580:2010. Water quality – Risk assessments for Legionella control – Code of practice.

Call us today on 01454 417 920 or e mail sales@dantek.co.uk

Frequently asked questions about Legionella control

Legionella control FAQ’s

What is Legionnaires’ Disease?

Legionnaires’ disease is a potentially fatal pneumonia caused by inhaling legionella bacteria.  Infection is caused by breathing in small droplets of water contaminated by the bacteria in the lungs.

Legionellosis is the term used to describe the diseases caused by legionella bacteria, of which Legionnaires’ disease is potentially fatal.  Pontiac fever and Lochgolihead fever are the less serious conditions but none the less avoidable if the correct cause of actions is taken.

 

Who can catch Legionnaires’ disease?

Everyone is potentially susceptible to infection, but some people are at higher risk e.g. those over 45 years of age, smokers and heavy drinkers, those suffering from chronic respiratory or kidney disease, and people whose immune system is impaired.

 

Where is legionella found?

Legionella bacteria (legionella pneumophila) are common in natural water courses such as rivers and ponds.  Since legionella are widespread in the environment, they may contaminate and grow in man-made water systems such as cooling towers and hot and cold-water services.  Spa baths, Jacuzzi’s and hot tubs are also provide a potential breeding ground for legionella bacteria as they provide optimum conditions for the bacteria to grow and multiply to sufficient numbers for a system to be colonised.

The bacteria thrive at temperatures between 20 and 45 degrees, particularly if there is a supply of nutrients such as rust, sludge, scale, algae and other bacteria.

The risk of legionnaires’ disease is increased if water droplets are produced and dispersed in aerosol form for example in a shower or spa bath.

It is possible to reduce the risk by removing exposure to water droplets and aerosol and by removing the nutrients on which the legionella bacteria feed.  This can be done by keeping water systems clean by cleaning and disinfecting cold water storage tanks and showerheads.

 

How do I comply with latest HSE guidance?

The current HSE guidance documents for the legionella control are the L8 Approved Code of Practice and the HSG274 Legionella technical guidance.

 

The first thing to do is a Legionella Risk Assessment, to consider the risks from legionella that may affect your staff or members of the public, and then take suitable precautions to control and prevent the risk.

 

 

Is it a legal requirement to have a legionella risk assessment?

 

There is a legal duty for employers and landlords to consider the risk legionella bacteria in buildings under your control or management. You must identify and assess the source of risk i.e carry out a legionella risk assessment. Manage the risk. Put in place measures to control or prevent any risks.  Keep good records to prove you are taking the appropriate action and to show to external agencies you are following the HSE guidance for legionella control.

 

What can be used to control legionella bacteria?

Temperature is usually used in hot and cold-water systems, by keeping hot water at above 60 degrees and ensuring it is above 50 degrees at the outlets. Cold water should be kept at below 20°c.

There are other methods which can be used if temperature is not an option, such as copper/silver ionisation and chlorine dioxide.  Cooling towers / systems are often treated with biocides.  There are other treatment strategies available such as ultra violet (UV) irradiation.

 

Do I need to take Legionella samples?

This depends on the risk assessment and control methods being used.  In some circumstances it will be required, however it needs to be done at a UKAS accredited laboratory and will require specialist help.  Dantek can provide advice on sample frequency and locations, and what to do if Legionella is detected.

 

Routine Legionella testing however is not a requirement in domestic hot and cold-water systems.  It would only be recommended in hot and cold-water systems due to exceptional circumstances where typical control measures are not working.  A full legionella risk assessment would identify the best course of action to reduce the risk.

 

To get an indication about whether microbial control is being achieved taking a TVC sample (total viable count) will allow the system to be monitored.  TVC samples are normally carried out for cooling towers and spa pools.  For other systems the risk assessment will identify is sampling is recommended.

 

Where can I get more information?

  • Order a copy of the Approved Code of Practice and guidance Legionnaires’ Disease: The control of legionella bacteria in water systems L8 here »
  • Contact the Water Management Society (WMS) http://www.wmsoc.org.uk/
  • Check out the LCA legionella control association directory of Water Hygiene companies
  • Call Dantek for free expert advice and support about all legionella control issues

 

What will a legionella risk assessment cost?

The cost will depend on what assets are on your site and how many buildings.  For large sites or multi-site portfolios a site visit by one of our team is the best way to establish exactly how much a risk assessment will cost. However, we are often able to provide a guide price if you know roughly the size and type of building.  For example, how many floors, what it is used for, whether there are any cold-water storage tanks, number of calorifiers and if there are any cooling towers. An asset register of plant and equipment can be very helpful in determining how long the on-site assessment will take and therefore the cost.

 

One of our team would be happy to talk through on the phone any requirements and enquiries.

 

What do Landlords need to do about Legionella control?

The law clearly states if you are a Landlord and rent out your property then you have a duty under Health and Safety Law to consider the risk posed by Legionella bacteria. The ACoP L8 (3rd edition) also states Landlords must assess the risk from exposure to legionella to their tenants.

In most cases the risk assessment is simple and straight forward, however for more complex systems or if the Landlord is not able / competent to carry out the assessment they can use a specialist Water Treatment Company like Dantek, to carry out the legionella risk assessments and advise on any actions required.

A simple risk assessment will identify if a system is considered a low legionella risk and no further actions are required other than to review the assessment regularly in case anything changes which may affect the risk for example the water system in the building changes.

Examples of low risk systems include;

  • A small building occupied by people not considered at risk from legionella bacteria.
  • Where there is enough usage of water per day to ensure the entire system is changed at least once.
  • Mains fed cold water supplies the entire system, so there are no cold-water storage tanks.
  • Hot water is fed from combi boilers/ instantaneous heaters or low volume water heater where the hot water is supplied at no less than 50°c
  • The only outlets at the property are toilets and wash hand basins with no showers present on site.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/legionnaires/legionella-landlords-responsibilities.htm

 

What is meant by the term water system?

A water system includes all plant and equipment for example all the pipework, pumps, cold water storage tanks, valves, showers, water softeners, chillers, heat exchangers, cooling towers, calorifiers, little used outlets and dead legs, humidifiers, air washes, car washes, indoor fountains and water features.

 

How do I choose a water hygiene company?

Choosing a water hygiene company with the knowledge and skills to manage and control the risk of legionnaires’ disease at your site is made easier with the help of the Legionella Control Association.  The LCA hold a register of members who have met their requirements on an annual basis and have passed their annual audit of systems.

A key factor should be the training of site staff to carry out water hygiene work competently.  A provider will be able to demonstrate how their employees are trained and audited to ensure continual compliance with current standards.

The LCA code of conduct sets out the standard of service a client should expect from a water hygiene provider.  The code requires a Service Provider to set up an appropriate management system for the control of legionella complying with the latest HSE guidance for the control of legionella bacteria.

How many cases of Legionnaires Disease were there last year?

The figures for 2017 are not available yet however in 2016 according to a report by Public Health England, there were 359 cases of Legionellosis cases reported to the National Surveillance Scheme for Legionnaires’ disease in England and Wales.  70.4% of these cases were male and 29.6% female.  With 60% of the cases were reported in people over the age of 60.

57% of cases are thought to have been infected by the organism in the community, with 41% of cases relating to travel abroad and 2% relating to healthcare premises.  Three quarters of those who were diagnosed already had an underlying health condition making them more susceptible to legionnaires’ disease.

The HSE take the view that all these deaths were preventable as it was a man-made system which allowed the bacteria to grow and proliferate to cause an outbreak.  As such the HSE take the view that all businesses should consider the risk from Legionella bacteria and follow the AcoPL8 and HSG274 guidance on the best way to prevent and control it.

 

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