The Covid-19 Pandemic has forced lots of businesses, schools, hotels and many other buildings to close. Now, as the country starts reopening after lockdown, those previously empty buildings could have become a breeding ground for another infection – Legionnaires’ disease.
What is Legionnaires’ disease I hear you ask?
Legionnaires’ disease is caused by inhaling water droplets that contain the Legionella pneumophilia bacteria. It’s quite rare, but the long periods of inactivity in buildings during lockdown greatly increases the risk of outbreaks.
Legionnaires’ disease causes severe pneumonia. In fact its symptoms could easily be mistaken for COVID-19. They include fever, dry cough, shortness of breath and muscle pain.
Unlike COVID-19, Legionnaires’ does not spread from person to person but causes large community outbreaks through contaminated airborne water droplets from sources including showerheads, taps and air-conditioning systems.
If you are an employer, or someone in control of a premises (e.g. landlord), you have a duty to understand and manage legionella risks. All systems require a risk assessment and you may already have one in place. A simple risk assessment may have previously shown that the risks are low and being properly managed to comply with the law. However, since lockdown we recommend reviewing this risk assessment as it may show an increased risk.
To avoid a Legionnaires outbreak after the lockdown ends, we strongly advise that all plumbing and heating systems in buildings that have not been in use, are thermally flushed, and all the water is drained from the pipework and replenished.
To do this, you need to first run all the taps in the building to get rid of stagnant water. This must be done carefully, and we advise that you wear the appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment) to prevent the inhalation of water droplets that could contain Legionella bacteria.
After the pipework has been drained, run the hot water system again at above 70°C. This will ensure that any lingering Legionella bacteria are also killed.
You may need advice from a competent person and/or specialist to help you identify and implement suitable controls for legionella.
Here at MBO we are happy to support and advise you with any legionella questions.