There are no vaccines that can prevent Legionnaires' disease. Instead, the key to preventing Legionnaires' disease is to reduce the risk of Legionella growth and spread. Building owners and managers can do this by maintaining building water systems and implementing controls for Legionella. Legionella risk assessments are just one of the many ways you can do this. Legionella water management programs are now an industry norm in terms of the number of companies that now offer this as a service. The primary method used to control the risk from Legionella is water temperature control.
What is so weird is the degree to which the disease is so unpredictable and the ways it has also come about in the last year. Legionella risks emerging from lockdown have been rife and there has for sure been a surge in commercial property too. Covid-19 has for sure made legionella a little more tricky and complex to keep control of. Water systems, which have been shut down, have had low water usage, or modified control regimes during the pandemic, may result in an increased risk of legionella being present too. You'll need to pay particular attention to any system containing water that may have been shut down at some point.
Those with the responsibility for managing buildings are required, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations and more specifically, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), to take suitable precautions to have a risk assessment carried out and depending on the outcome of the assessment, must manage the hot and cold water systems in order to control the growth of the bacteria. Any identified potential risk sources need to be acted upon in a timely and fast manner.
Water systems that are not being used and maintained effectively are very likely to have increased levels of bacteria present. More and more, this is being seen and this too is why Legionella management is now a growing need and more people need to invest in this as a service to rid themselves of the risk factors so often associated with legionella and the damage it can do also. Most commercial settings and premises should have a water safety plan for the management of their hot and cold (including drinking) water systems and any cooling towers. All of this needs to be taken care of to make sure the premises is of a low risk.
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