Our Microbiology Lab is fully accredited

The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the sole national accreditation body for the United Kingdom. UKAS is recognised by government, to assess against internationally agreed standards, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services.

Our Microbiology Lab is fully accredited.

Accreditation by UKAS demonstrates the competence, impartiality and performance capability of these evaluators.

For more information on our UKAS accredited services please call on 01329 287 777 or fill out the form below;

 

 


Don’t be at risk

Don’t get caught, have your Legionella under control with our routine UKAS Accredited analysis.

Check the latest article of legionnaires disease.

For all our Legionella and other Microbiological services please call on 01329 287 777 or fill out the form below;

 

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GUIDANCE ON LEGIONNAIRES’ DISEASE FOR LANDLORDS

What is Legionnaires’ Disease?

Legionnaires’ Disease is a pneumonia like illness caused by the Legionella bacteria and can be fatal. The infection is caused by breathing in small droplets of water contaminated by the bacteria. The disease cannot be passed from one person to another.

Legionella bacteria are found in the natural environment and may contaminate and grow in water systems, including domestic hot and cold water systems. They survive low temperatures and thrive at temperatures between 20 – 45°C if the conditions are right. They are killed by high temperatures at 60°C or above.

Risk assessments

Landlords are under a duty to ensure that the risk of exposure to tenants, residents and visitors by Legionella is properly assessed and controlled.

Normally there is no reason why the landlord should not carry out this risk assessment himself/herself so long as they are competent. Usually there will be no need to employ a consultant. The assessment should be a straight forward simple exercise in ordinary domestic premises.

For most residential settings the risk assessment may well show the risks are low so long as simple control measures referred to in the next section are followed. This will apply to houses or flats with small domestic type water systems where the water turnover is high. Provided the risk assessment shows that the risks are insignificant and the control measures are being properly managed no further action would be necessary. It is important, however, to keep the assessment under review periodically in case anything changes to the system.

Control measures

Simple control measures will help manage the risk from Legionella and these should be maintained including:

  • flushing out the water system by running all outlets for at least 2 minutes where the premises have not been used e.g. before letting the property or if the property has stood empty for a time
  • avoiding debris getting into the system (e.g. making sure cold water tanks, if installed, have a tight fitting lid)
  • setting controls so that the hot water is heated to and stored at 60°C
  • the removal of any redundant pipe work
  • advising tenants to regularly clean, descale and disinfect shower heads

Advice for tenants

Landlords are entitled to expect the tenants will play their part in ensuring control measures are maintained. Landlords should:

  • inform tenants of potential risk of exposure to Legionella and its consequences
  • tell tenants of any action which arises from the landlords risk assessment if appropriate
  • tell tenants to inform the landlord if the hot water system is not heating properly or if there are any other problems with the system
  • tell the landlord if the cold water system is not running cold
  • tell tenants to keep the water turned over

 

Unoccupied premises

The risk from Legionella may increase if the property is unoccupied even for a short period. It is important that water is not left to stand in the hot or cold water systems. As a general rule, all outlets on hot and cold water systems should be used at least once a week for at least 2 minutes to maintain a degree of water flow and minimise the chances of stagnation. For long periods consider draining the system. Make sure that the system is flushed through when it is re-occupied by running all outlets for at least 2 minutes.

HSE Guidance

HSE have published detailed guidance and the relevant extract relating to residential accommodation is available here.

What is the letting agent’s responsibility?

As already indicated, landlords are responsible for making sure that the risks involving Legionella are properly assessed and controlled. Where a managing agent is used the management contract should specify who has responsibility. Landlords must assume that unless the managing agent takes on this responsibility, they as landlord will be responsible for compliance.

Do landlords need to employ a consultant or undertake sampling tests?

For straight forward residential accommodation the answer to this should be “no” as long as landlords are reasonably knowledgeable and competent. Sometimes agents and consultants tell landlords that they need to employ a consultant to conduct an annual check or even to have sampling undertaken. HSE guidance indicates that normally this will not be necessary. However, if a block of flats are involved, unless each flat has its own self-contained hot and cold water system, a more comprehensive risk assessment may be needed.

What happens if the landlord does not carry out his/her obligations?

The consequences can be serious. Landlords are legally required to manage properties so as not to expose tenants, residents and visitors to risk. Heavy fines or even imprisonment can be imposed especially if someone were to unfortunately die. Landlords can be prosecuted even if there is an exposure to risk without anyone actually becoming ill.

Original Source:http://www.rla.org.uk/landlord/guides/legionnaires_disease.shtml?zoom_highlight=legionella

For more information on this and for all our services please call on 01329 287 777 or fill out the form below;

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LEGIONELLA – MANAGING THE RISK

LEGIONELLA – MANAGING THE RISK

As an employer, or person in control of premises, you must appoint someone competent to help you meet your health and safety duties and to take responsibility for controlling any identified risk from exposure to legionella bacteria. A competent person, often known as the responsible person, is someone with sufficient authority, competence, necessary skills, knowledge of the system, and experience. The appointed responsible person could be one, or a combination of:

·         yourself

·         one or more workers

·         someone from outside your business

If there are several people responsible for managing risks, e.g. because of shift-work patterns, you must make sure that everyone knows what they are responsible for and how they fit into the overall risk management of the system.

If you decide to employ contractors to carry out water treatment or other work, it is still the responsibility of the competent person to ensure that the treatment is carried out to the required standards. Remember, before you employ a contractor, you should be satisfied that they can do the work you want to the standard that you require. There are a number of external schemes to help you with this, for example, A Code of Conduct for service providers  . The British Standards Institute have published a standard for legionella risk assessment  .

 

http://www.hse.gov.uk/legionnaires/what-you-must-do.htm

Based on OHSAS 18001 and BS 8800 which are the recognised UK models for Health & Safety Management Systems, Envirochem is able to provide Health & Safety Assessment Services as part of a range of occupational health and safety support services to cover all health and Safety issues.

 

For Legionnaires testing or risk assessments please fill out the form below or call on 01329 287 777

 

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Envirochem provides tests for Legionella; it is a pathogenic bacterium that can cause Legionnaires disease and Pontiac fever.

Envirochem provides tests for Legionella; it is a pathogenic bacterium that can cause Legionnaires disease and Pontiac fever. It can be found in domestic water systems, swimming pools and other bodies of water.

We also test for other types of bacteria like EC, TC, TVC and many others.

For this service and all our other Mircobiology services please fill out the form below;

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Legionnaires’ Disease

Legionnaires’ Disease is caused by the bacteria legionella being inhaled in droplets of contaminated liquids. Legionella can be concentrated in building’s water systems, with larger buildings being at greater risks, especially those with shower or sprinkler systems (such as spas or hotels).

For more facts about legionnaire’s Disease follow this link

If you would like to enquire about Envirochem’s legionella services, please fill in the form below.

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Legionella Bacteria Identified at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital

A patient of Gloucestershire Royal Hospital may have been infected with legionella bacteria after attending the hospital’s dialysis unit in October earlier this year. The hospital stated that enhanced measures were put in place in order to stop the bacteria from spreading to any other patients.

Legionella bacteria is more likely to spread in larger commercial buildings with more complex water systems and if contracted can lead to Legionnaires Disease; a potentially fatal lung infection.

For more on this story click here

To enquire about legionella testing or for more information please contact us below:

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Legionella Discovery Leads to Swimming Pool Closure

Traces of Legionella Bacteria were found in the males showers of Castleton Swimming pool during routine checks, leading to it’s closure. The same swimming pool was shut for three weeks in May following the discovery of Legionella in the heating system.

Legionella bacteria can cause legionaires disease, this has flu like symptoms and affects the lungs. In some cases the disease can be fatal.

For more on the story click here

Envirochem offer an array of microbiological tests including tests for legionella. If you would like to enquire please fill in the form bellow.

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Legionella Bacteria detected at Walton on the Naze Leisure Centre

Walton on the Naze Leisure Centre in Essex has temporarily closed some of their facilities due to the detection of legionella bacteria within the fitness room showers. Tests were carried out when a customer fell ill after using the showers in November.

For more on this story please click here

Legionellosis is a collective term for diseases caused by legionella bacteria including the most serious legionnaires’ disease, as well as the similar but less serious conditions of Pontiac fever and Lochgoilhead fever.

The bacterium legionella pneumophila and related bacteria are common in natural water sources such as rivers, lakes and reservoirs, but usually in low numbers. They may also be found in purpose-built water systems such as cooling towers, evaporative condensers, hot and cold water systems and spa pools.

For more information on Legionella testing please contact us below:

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Legionella Bacteria Detected In The Cooling Towers Of Sellafield

The bacteria Legionella have been detected at high levels in tower at the Highly Active Liquid Effluent and Storage (HALES) facility. The chief nuclear inspector has released a statement assuring that there has not been an outbreak of legionnaires’ disease and that this does not impact nuclear safety.

For more information on this story click HERE

Envirochem offer tests for Legionella in many environments including:

  • Domestic water systems
  • Cooling towers
  • Any drinking water service
  • Swimming pools
  • Spa pools
  • Car washes
  • Effluent
  • And many more

For more information on Legionella testing please visit the Microbiology page of our website or fill in the form below.

 

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