In January 2019, BSI Standards Limited released the new, updated ‘BS 8580-1:2019 Water Quality – Risk Assessments for Legionella Control – Code of Practice’. This blog is designed to help the duty holder, employer, responsible person or purchaser of risk assessments understand what the standard is and what features your risk assessment should include, it is neither a critique nor a summary of its content.

In Part 1, we covered some common problems you may face when commissioning Legionella risk assessments. We now take a look at what your risk assessment should include to comply with current guidance and regulations.

If you are the hotel manager, maintenance manager or property owner you have a legal responsibility and accountability to ensure that occupiers of your premises are suitably protected from water safety risk. You may have appointed, or been appointed as, the Responsible Person. This essential blog is aimed at helping you understand a little more of how a risk assessment can help you and what it must include.

 The objective of this article is to provide a more detailed overview of the importance of getting your legionella risk assessment right. There are a variety of types of risk assessment, it is important your risk assessment is carried out professionally and correctly in accordance with HSE guidance.

Risk assessments are the ‘cornerstone’ of health and safety. As a reminder to us all, the HSE state ‘It is a legal requirement for every employer and self-employed person to make an assessment of the health and safety risks arising out of their work. The purpose of the assessment is to identify what needs to be done to control health and safety risks. Regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.’

In this blog we discuss the ‘Legionella risk assessment’ and whether it is suitable to comply with regulations.

One question our consultants are continuously asked by clients is “How are we compared to other organisations?”

Over the past few years, the Water Hygiene Centre has carried out thousands of Legionellosis Risk Assessments for a multitude of organisations and properties using our UKAS Accredited method and reports. One of the unique features of our UKAS Accredited method is the ability to produce risk scores for those properties and organisations that have had a risk assessment. Each risk assessment report generated compares properties within an organisation, but also compares risk scores against all other similar organisations that has been assessed by the Water Hygiene Centre.

Health and safety regulations and guidance require all risks from exposure to Legionella bacteria to be identified and evaluated.

Here, we discuss how these “Risk Assessments” can be undertaken and managed incorrectly, in the form of the 7 deadly sins.

UK legislation places a duty on building owners and those in charge of premises to manage the risks to health and safety associated with water systems. 

The head of an estates team or building manager has a duty of care under health and safety law to the patients, staff and general public who use their site. Today we will discuss the importance of a hot water risk assessment and the importance of controlling temperatures on a healthcare site.