Legionella Compliance Made Simple
There are a number of important responsibilities that a business must undertake in order to achieve compliance with the Approved Code of Practice ACoP L8:2013 and Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health 2002, Management of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1999 Section 3 as regulatory requirements:
Appoint a Responsible Person
Undertake a Legionella Risk Assessment
Devise a Scheme of Precautions (Management Policy and Procedures)
Implement the Scheme of Precautions
Keep sufficient records
Provide staff training
Review
It is important to ensure that the above points are thoroughly put into place and continually audited/monitored in order to ensure compliance and a continued safe working environment for all of your staff, if you would like any further detail on any of the above particularly please feel free to contact us.
Who can be appointed as the 'responsible' person?
The responsible person will take day-to-day responsibility for managing the control of any identified risk from legionella bacteria. Anyone can be appointed as the responsible person as long as they have sufficient authority, competence, skills and knowledge about the installation to ensure that all operational procedures are carried out in a timely and effective manner and implement the control measures and strategies, ie they are suitably informed, instructed, trained and assessed.
They should be able to ensure that tasks are carried out in a safe, technically competent manner.
If a dutyholder is self-employed or a member of a partnership, and is competent, they may appoint themselves. The responsible person should be suitably informed, instructed and trained and their suitability assessed. They should also have a clear understanding of their duties and the overall health and safety management structure, and policy in the organisation.
Who can undertake the risk assessment for legionella?
As an employer or a person in control of premises, you must appoint person or persons responsible for helping you manage your health and safety duties, e.g. take responsibility for managing risks. A competent person is someone with the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to manage health and safety, including the control measures. You could appoint one, or a combination of:
yourself
one or more workers
someone from outside your business
If you decide to employ contractors to carry out your risk assessment or other work, it is still the responsibility of the competent person to ensure that the work 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.
All The First Principle Consultants are City and Guilds Qualified in Legionella Management and Risk Assessments.
The First Principle - Your Safety is Our Priority
Click HERE to access our members download page where you can get free audit forms and more.
