The Almshouse Association has recently received enquiries from a number of member almshouse charities concerning Trustees’ responsibilities in controlling legionella.
All almshouse providers are legally obliged to arrange for a legionella risk assessment to be carried out:
- The legal requirements concerned result from Section 3(2) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002.
- Guidance in general is the L8 Approved Code of Practice which has special legal status.
- More guidance is in the HSG 274 part 2 section Landlords & HSE. Legionnaires’ disease – Legionella and landlords’ responsibilities (hse.gov.uk)
Once a reputable firm has been appointed to carry out the risk assessment, a senior member of staff or a Trustee should attend a legionella awareness course. The remedial works itemised in the risk assessment should be carried out and monitoring control measures put in place which should be recorded in a logbook. The logbook must be completed each time actions are carried out, such as the cleaning of water tanks, fitting new lids with vents, removing dead leg pipework, cleaning shower heads etc.
There are three steps to compliance with the legislation:
Step 1
Risk Assess the Property: All actions carried out will be based upon the contents of the risk assessment taking into account water supply, storage, form of heating water and hot and cold water distribution, including the outlets. Any remedial works and control schemes stipulated will be included in the document irrespective of whose responsibility it is to take necessary actions.
Step 2
Remedials: Remedial works should be carried out in a planned, prioritised way to reduce the risk of legionella.
Step 3
Put in place control measures: These should relate to individual dwellings as well as communal areas if applicable. Residents should be made aware of their individual responsibilities i.e. regularly cleaning showerheads, informing the charity if the hot water is not working properly or any other problems with the water system. It is important that residents are advised that after periods of absence from their almshouses they should flush through the water system by turning on taps and letting the water run for a while. Residents should be informed to take care when running showers before use as running water at pressure causes an aerosol effect and increases risk to the operator. It is recommended therefore that a plastic bag is placed over shower heads while the system is flushed through.
Training in legionella control is provided by various companies, one of which is Eplus Global Ltd (www.eplusglobal.co.uk) For further information contact Ben French at benfrench@eplusglobal.co.uk, Mobile: 07788 421651