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The UK’s Health and Safety Executive have recently
issued a warning concerning the standard of Legionella
risk assessments following the successful conviction
of a UK water treatment company that conducted inadequate
and misleading surveys at several nursing homes (additional
details of the prosecution can be found at the end
of this bulletin).
Specialist risk assessments, including those concerning
Legionella can often be complex and require specialist
expertise. Generally however, there are a number of
practical steps that you should consider during the
risk assessment process – Five Step Process.
Why have a risk assessment?
Risk assessments play a vital role in protecting you,
your workers and your business, as well as helping you
comply with the law. They help you focus on the risks
that really matter in your workplace - the ones with
the potential to cause real harm. It is therefore important
that they are done correctly by people with the right
skills.
What is risk assessment?
A risk assessment is simply a careful examination of
what, in your work, could cause harm to people, so that
you can weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions
or should do more to prevent harm. Workers and others
have a right to be protected from harm caused by a failure
to take reasonable control measures.
Accidents and ill health can ruin lives and affect
your business too if output is lost, machinery is damaged,
insurance costs increase or you have to go to court.
You are legally required to assess the risks in your
workplace so that you put in place a plan to control
the risks.
Five steps to assess the risks in your workplace
Step 1
Identify the hazards
Step 2
Decide who might be harmed and how
Step 3
Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
Step 4
Record your findings and implement them
Step 5
Review your assessment and update if necessary
Don’t overcomplicate the process. In many organisations,
the risks are well known and the necessary control measures
are easy to apply. You probably already know whether,
for example, you have employees who move heavy loads
and so could harm their backs, or where people are most
likely to slip or trip. If so, check that you have taken
reasonable precautions to avoid injury.
If you run a small organisation and you are confident
you fully understand what’s involved, you can
do the assessment yourself. You don’t have to
be a health and safety expert.
If you work in a larger organisation, you could ask
a health and safety advisor to help you. If you are
not confident, get help from someone who is competent.
In all cases, you should make sure that you involve
your staff or their representatives in the process.
They will have useful information about how the work
is done that will make your assessment of the risk more
thorough and effective. But remember, you are responsible
for seeing that the assessment is carried out properly.
Legionella warning from HSE
13 August 2009
Companies responsible for carrying out Legionella surveys
on water systems have been warned by the HSE of the
need to ensure that their work is thorough and accurate
following a fine of £24,000 fine plus £17,276
costs for a company that conducted inadequate risk assessments.
The warning follows the conviction of a Berkshire-based
(UK) water treatment company for carrying out inadequate
and misleading surveys at nursing homes in Blaenau Gwent
and Powys. As a result, vulnerable residents at the
homes would have been at a heightened risk of contracting
legionnaires’ disease, a potentially fatal form
of pneumonia.
At Abertillery Magistrates Court on Thursday 6th August
2009, DEBA UK Ltd of Wokingham, pleaded guilty to three
charges under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety
at Work etc Act 1974. They were fined £24,000
and ordered to pay costs of £17,276.
During 2007, the company were commissioned to carry
out Legionella risk assessments at Nursing Homes operated
by Craegmoor Healthcare in Tredegar and Llangattock,
and rated the risk as low. A subsequent routine check
of these nursing homes revealed there to be inadequate
controls for Legionella at these premises, and the focus
moved on to the work carried out by DEBA UK Ltd.
HSE inspector Matthew Hamar said: "The nursing
home operators commissioned DEBA UK Ltd to carry out
the surveys in good faith and to help them comply with
their responsibilities to manage the risk posed by Legionella
on their premises. They were badly let down in this
case.
"Elderly nursing home residents are at greater
risk from the bacteria that give rise to conditions
such as legionnaires’ disease, so it is imperative
that safety critical surveys like those carried out
by DEBA UK Ltd are adequate. Fortunately, there was
no evidence of any outbreak of the disease as a result
of these incidents, but there is a clear responsibility
to those companies carrying out specialist work that
they need to carry out adequate surveys and provide
accurate information."
Parts of this article © Crown Copyright.
Additional Information
For a copy of our guide to Legionella risk assessments
or for further information and expert assistance please
call us on +44 (0) 161 877
0586 or email info@legionellacontrol.com.
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