When measures to prevent Legionella fail, and a positive result is returned from the laboratory, there is an imperative to act fast to stamp infection out, but taking the right action requires a rigorous approach.
So says Andrew Steel, managing director of Airmec, a provider of essential air and water services solutions. Here he explains the legal and other obligations of health estates managers in taking all possible steps to prevent a Legionella outbreak, and, when they do face one, sets out the key remedial steps, and outlines what regulators or HSE personnel will expect to see as ‘evidence’ that sufficient ‘duty of care’ has been taken.
Fulfilling a healthcare provider’s duty of care to eradicate a major outbreak of Legionella, and to take all possible steps to prevent any repetition, will usually entail both major disruption, and significant expenditure. Shutting down operational areas of a hospital or other healthcare building is a major logistical exercise, and expensive in itself, before one even factors into the equation the cost of disinfection and remedial work. Even though a ‘Legionella positive’ result does not always mean that immediate shutdown is essential, there is never going to be much time for delay; and institutional ‘checks and balances’ can make it difficult to authorise significant expenditure quickly enough. There may simply be no time for competitive tendering or normal due process; it is the finance director’s nightmare – one that having good risk assessment procedures in place can help to avoid.
Facing a ‘dreaded combination’
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