Legionella Risk
The UK HSE has published guidance on the risks from Legionella during the coronavirus pandemic, as detailed here. If a building has been closed or has had reduced occupancy, water stagnation can occur due to lack of use, increasing the risks of Legionnaires disease on re-opening.
The maintenance manager of a boutique hotel therefore sought advice on how to recommission his hotel’s hot and cold water down-services following a period of prolonged shutdown.
The LCA guidance on reopening buildings lists several factors that may cause an increased risk of legionella.
The HSE expects the system to be thoroughly tested prior to allowing the public to use the water supply. The LCA also acknowledges that no guidance is going to be suitable for every circumstance and each situation must be risk assessed and appropriate measures taken. For most buildings, some form of cleansing disinfection is likely to be needed (see BSI document PD855468).
The hotel is open to hotel residents, conference / seminar delegates and the general public, estimated at an average of 240 persons per day, but occasionally much higher numbers when meeting rooms are in use.
The health & safety of both hotel staff and members of the public were uppermost in the maintenance manager’s mind when he contacted us for advice on how the hotel might be safely re-opened.
We advised him on best practice and supplied Geosil50 to perform a disinfection of the hotel’s water services. A recommissioning validation sampling strategy confirmed the disinfection was successful. With thorough training and the backup of our team’s knowledge, there was no delay to re-opening the hotel.