The Health and Safety Executive approved code of practice (ACOP) Legionnaires’ disease
The control of legionella bacteria in water systems states that the “dutyholder” is responsible for ensuring a legionella risk assessment is carried out. You are the dutyholder if you are either of the following:

(A)  You are the Employer, where the risk from their undertaking is to their employees or others; or
(b)  You are a self-employed person, where there is a risk from their undertaking to themselves or others; or
(c)  You are the person who is in control of the premises or systems in connection with work, where there is a risk from systems in the building, eg where a building is let to tenants, but the landlord keeps responsibility for its maintenance. 

All employers, landlords or premises managers have a duty to understand and manage Legionella risk within their workplace. They need to ensure that they conduct a regular water system risk assessment.

A legionella risk assessment should inspect locations where water is used or stored; and where there is a means of creating and transmitting water droplets (aerosols) which may be inhaled, causing a reasonably foreseeable risk of exposure to legionella.

The following locations should be included where present:

• Cooling systems with cooling towers
• Evaporative condensers
• Dry/wet cooling systems
• Hot and cold water systems
• Spa pools
• Other plant and systems containing water that can create and increase the risk from legionella during operation or when being maintained

To undertake a legionella risk assessment, you must have the competence (knowledge and skills) to fulfil your health and safety duties, eg take responsibility for managing the control scheme, then you should make reasonable enquiries to satisfy yourself of their competence in the area of work before entering into any contracts for the treatment, monitoring, and cleaning of the system, and any other aspects of water treatment and control. An illustration of levels of service to expect from water treatment companies can be found here Legionella Control Association.

A plumber could undertake legionella risk assessments, however you would require to assess that they are competent to undertake these assessments. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) describe competency being made up of the correct qualifications, experience and training for the task to be completed. The law provides that this is done by someone competent for the task.

Legionella bacterial resides within water bodies including lakes, water sources, and rivers. Alternatively, the substances are found within natural water systems, such as heat pumps and cooler towers and spas.

Given the correct combinations of environmental factors, a water supply can be a breeding ground for Legionella growth. Legionella bacteria may cause significant health problems if stored and recirculated water and breathable water droplets can spread to the surface of the aerosol.

Your legionella risk assessment report will provide a detailed plan of action. This report will list all identified hazards with photos, temperature data and asset register.

Recommendations for implementing effective legionella control measures will be provided as well as any required remediation works.

Your reports will be quality checked and e-mailed in PDF format.

We guarantee you that we’ll issue your report within 5 days when no samples are collected.

Where water samples are collected reporting times will be increased subject to laboratory analysis times.