Legionella Risk Assessment & Testing in York

What a legionella risk assessment in York involves

A legionella risk assessment is a survey of your building's water system and the way it is run. One of our City & Guilds WH004 qualified assessors visits your York property and works through the system from the incoming mains to every outlet: tanks, calorifiers and water heaters, pipework, showers, taps and anything that is rarely used. They look at the materials, the design and the condition of the system, the controls already in place, how it is managed, and who could be exposed, taking account of how vulnerable those people are.

The findings are then written up into a report with a schematic drawing of your water system. Each assessment is written for the building in front of us, never generated from a template, and our quality control team checks it before it is sent to you as a PDF or a printed copy.

York's older buildings and legionella

York has a great many listed and older buildings, along with hotels, guest houses, holiday lets and student accommodation. These often have exactly the features a risk assessment pays close attention to: long or altered pipe runs, cold water tanks in lofts, dead legs left behind by past alterations, and rooms or whole properties that stand empty for weeks at a time. Water that sits still and lukewarm is where legionella bacteria multiply, so that is where the assessment and the control plan concentrate.

Your legal duties as a landlord or employer in York

If you are an employer, a landlord or anyone in control of premises in York, health and safety law requires you to identify and assess the risk from legionella and to put controls in place. HSE's Approved Code of Practice L8 and its technical guidance HSG274 explain how. In practice that means a suitable risk assessment, a written scheme for controlling the risk, someone appointed to manage it, and records of the checks carried out.

Keep the assessment under review, and look at it again straight away if anything changes, such as alterations to the water system, a change in how the building is used, or check results showing the controls are not working.

Legionella testing in York

Testing, or water sampling, means taking samples from the system for a laboratory to analyse. Not every building needs routine sampling. Your risk assessment will say whether yours does, for example where there is a cooling tower or a spa pool, or where checks show temperatures are not being kept under control. Where sampling is needed, we take the samples and explain what the results mean.

In most hot and cold water systems, temperature is the main defence. HSE's guidance is that hot water should be stored at 60°C or above and reach outlets at 50°C or above within a minute (55°C in healthcare premises), while cold water should stay below 20°C. Legionella bacteria grow best between 20°C and 45°C.

Who is most at risk

Anyone can catch Legionnaires' disease, a potentially fatal form of pneumonia caught by breathing in tiny droplets of contaminated water. Some people are more vulnerable: those over 45, smokers and heavy drinkers, people with chronic respiratory or kidney disease, diabetes, or lung or heart disease, and anyone whose immune system is weakened. Care homes and healthcare premises therefore need particular care.

Arrange a legionella risk assessment in York

Tell us a little about your building using the quote form on this page, or give us a call, and we will reply with a quote and our availability. After the assessment we stay on hand to explain the report and help you put its actions in place.