Effective Legionella mitigation for the 21st century
While we’ve managed to effectively eliminate the risk of a lot of diseases in the modern era, that elimination requires ongoing efforts in multiple areas. When it comes to Legionella, it appears that some of those efforts aren’t currently sufficient, as is apparent in the increases in outbreaks across both Europe and America.
Effective Legionella mitigation in the 21st century shouldn’t be too difficult to achieve for most businesses, but it does require a tactical approach. Let’s explore some of the core elements that you’ll need to cover.
What is Legionella?
First, what actually is Legionella? Legionella pneumophila is a relatively common bacteria, present in a wide range of natural water sources. While it’s harmless in low concentrations, when it multiplies and is breathed into the lungs, it can cause a serious form of atypical pneumonia called Legionnaires’ disease.
The first documented outbreak, in a Hotel in America, led to over 100 hospitalisations and a significant number of tragic deaths. In this light, successful Legionella mitigation is an absolute must in pretty much all contexts.
Risk assessment
One of the most important advances we’ve had when it comes to disease prevention is the development of effective testing and risk prevention strategies. In the context of contemporary water safety, this will typically be based on a Legionella risk assessment that’s carried out by a water hygiene specialist.
The assessment will include extensive testing of the water system, looking for any potential areas that need attention. Based on the findings of the assessment, a number of recommendations will be made – some potentially urgent in order to achieve regulatory compliance, others less urgent in nature.
Employee training
While you will need to get external services to come in and carry out risk assessments and other forms of specialist testing, you can’t solely rely on these services for your approach to Legionella mitigation.
To ensure that the employees in your organisation are prepared to deal with these issues as well, you’ll likely need to arrange for some kind of training. For most employees, this will be relatively basic.
For example, it might typically just consist of outlining what kinds of environmental issues to look out for (such as lukewarm stagnant water sources) and then providing a basic, reliable way of reporting those kinds of issues.
Don’t get complacent
Just because the approach you’ve adopted so far has successfully averted crises doesn’t mean it will always be able to do so. You need to make sure that you’re regularly looking for ways to improve your existing safety-oriented practices, to ensure that they’re able to cater to the emergent potential risks that you’re facing.
The fact of the matter is that we have so many effective solutions to mitigate the risk of issues such as Legionella nowadays. Whereas it was next to impossible in times gone by, in the modern age, by taking the broad approach outlined above, outbreaks should be kept to practically zero. All it requires is a little diligence and a clear delineation of responsibility.
