t: 01455 883 250 • www.elmhurstenergy.co.uk
11
Legionella: When is a risk assessment required? Tony Robinson, Technical Consultant
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) makes it clear that landlords have a legal responsibility to ensure the health and safety of their tenants by keeping the property safe and free from health hazards. This includes the proliferation of Legionella bacteria. All hot and cold water systems have the potential to provide an environment where Legionella bacteria can grow. The bacteria can cause a number of illnesses, the most high profile being Legionnaires’ disease, which is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia caused by the inhalation of small droplets of contaminated water. It is therefore important that landlords make sure that the risk posed to tenants has been assessed. The Risk Assessment should be undertaken by someone who is competent, and whilst there is no restriction on the Landlord undertaking this themselves, as with many other aspects of their properties’ maintenance, they will often seek the services of a specialist to undertake the task on their behalf. Elmhurst has seen a significant increase in the number of Legionella risk assessments produced in Scotland in recent months, and this trend appears set to continue. The reasons behind this increase can be attributed to increased awareness by landlords often as the result of the
compulsory Landlord Registration Schemes that are now being put in place across the UK. In Scotland for example, where registration for most types of rented residential property is compulsory countrywide, the Government has provided advice to landlords via the mygov.scot website. This includes a section detailing landlords’ responsibilities, one of the requirements being to “make sure you've carried out a Legionella risk assessment”. Landlords in Wales and Northern Ireland are also subject to compulsory registration, although in England there is currently no national requirement. Some local authorities, however, have adopted their own schemes and it does seem likely that further schemes will be introduced across the country to provide consistency across the whole of the UK. As these registration schemes develop, it seems likely that landlords will be made even more aware of their responsibilities to their tenants and as such the demand for Legionella risk assessments will rise. This means there has never been a better time to consider becoming a Legionella Risk Assessor, which can be achieved by attending Elmhurst’s one-day training course.
