L8guard Brochure

L8 guard

reducing the risk of legionella from low-use outlets

L8 guard

“Weekly flushing of low-use water outlets can significantly reduce the legionella discharged from the outlet...”

Source: The Control of Legionella Bacteria in Water Systems (L8) Approved Code Of Practice “...Once started, this procedure has to be sustained and logged...”

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L8 guard ... the situation In order to minimise the potential build-up of legionella bacteria we need to identify low-use water outlets, such as taps and showers and implement a regime of risk-assessments and flushing records.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, all non-domestic premises must take appropriate measures to prevent the build-up of legionella bacteria and its subsequent dispersal as an aerosol (fine droplets of water) - through spray from taps or showers, for example.

The Approved Code of Practice for the control of legionella bacteria in water systems (ACOP L8) recommends flushing of any such outlets for several minutes, at least once a week, as a means to minimise the risk of the build up of legionella bacteria.

The Code goes on further to state that the procedure must be sustained and logged in order to be effective. Accurate records must be kept in order to protect property owners and employers in case of an outbreak.

Regular shower cleaning/ de-scaling is not considered an alternative to regular flushing of low-use outlets.

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L8 guard

... the problems Every week, someone in your organisation needs to undertake a risk-assessment to decide if any water outlets might be considered “low-use”. This must be recorded, even if no outlets are identified as “low-use”. If any outlets are identified these need to be logged, along with details of if / when they were flushed through.

smaller premises In smaller premises or buildings, risk assessment and flushing measures are often seen as time-consuming, tedious and unnecessary. As a result they are easily overlooked, with documentation becoming poor or non-existent.

larger premises In larger premises, it is often impossible for one or two individuals to be able to identify low-use outlets. Responsibility for risk-assessment, flushing and logging is transferred to local-users or departments.

It then becomes increasingly difficult to ensure that all departments are consistently fulfilling their obligations and maintaining accurate records.

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... the solutions

L8 guard

smaller premises smaller premises need: • A reminder to perform weekly risk assessments • A simple tool to record the details quickly and easily • An easy way to document any flushing which has taken place • Instant access to previous risk assessments and flushing details • Confidence that their records are safe and secure • Reassurance that they are reducing the risk of a legionella outbreak

larger premises larger premises also need: • The power to collate records from different areas or buildings • To identify those responsible for performing low-use risk assessments • To monitor departments which are poor at responding • To chase departments for late records • To locate areas or outlets which are regularly flagged as “low-use” • To evaluate the performance of premises with automatic escalation controls

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L8 guard

... the software

what it does L8guard is a web-based software tool that allows any number of users in your organisation to quickly record a weekly risk-assessment of low-use outlets and any associated flushing details.

It automatically emails each department or area with a reminder to complete a risk-assessment at the start of the following week, and a final reminder at the end of it. Failure to provide a risk-assessment for an area after two weeks is automatically escalated to the overall co-ordinator for your site.

Administrative users are presented with a performance summary screen when they first log-in. This shows the expected performance of all areas / departments over the last 4 weeks, along with the best and worst performing departments in the same period.

Administrators can review the building and department / area information which has been set up, configure the departmental contact details, outlet types and site co-ordinator, as well as accessing the reporting functions. Reports include an eight-week returns summary by building and department; weekly returns overview; and a risk-assessment details report which can be printed or saved to PDF. All risk assessments are securely stored, with hosting from 1and1 Internet Ltd the UK’s leading provider of web-hosting, and are backed up daily. Except for scheduled maintenance the system is available on-line 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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L8 guard how it works L8guard is provided as a web-application, compatible with all modern webbrowsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and Opera) and was written using Microsoft ASP.Net, with database access provided by Microsoft SQL Server.

No software installation is required on your computer(s), and the system is easy to use for anyone with basic experience of using the Internet. Customers are provided with a unique “Authentication� link, which they can distribute to anyone in their organisation who may need to record a low-use outlet risk assessment.

This allows direct access to the logging elements of the system, without any additional need to sign-in.

Administrative access is provided through a separate username and password which should be restricted to nominated personnel and gives access to the conďŹ guration and reporting tools.

customer support The L8guard package includes email and telephone support as standard.

Customer support is available 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). Should it be required, UK on-site training and support is also available as an additional option, by arrangement.

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L8 guard

L8guard provides ...the answer In a powerful, but easy-to-use package, L8guard provides all the tools you need for the easy risk assessment of low-use outlets.

Whether you’re in charge of a small ofďŹ ce or a golf course; a school or a hospital, you can use L8guard to take control of low-use outlet monitoring.

You can save your organisation time, money and risk by using L8guard to manage your monitoring.

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L8 guard

... the package Use of the L8guard system is available through an annual license fee with an initial set up charge.

Both the fee and the setup charge are on a “sliding scale” which is based on the number of buildings and departments / areas that you will need. This means that smaller organisations can still benefit from the system in a cost-effective manor.

All users can access the core set of functions within the system, and have the ability to opt for additional services if they wish:

core features • Automatic weekly reminder for each department / area • Easy risk assessments for any number of users • Nomination of responsible persons • Instant access to historical records • Automatic data backup

optional additional features • Enhanced reporting capabilities • Automatic monthly performance overview email • Automatic escalation of poorly performing areas • Identification of regular “low-use” outlets • External chasing of missed assessments by telephone

• Performance reports

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L8 guard L8guard York Eco Business Centre Amy Johnson Way Clifton Moor York YO30 4AG t: 0113 815 1360 e: sales@l8guard.co.uk w: www.l8guard.co.uk Design www.row1graphics.co.uk

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