| Legionella bacteria
are common and can occur naturally in the environment
in lakes, rivers etc. but usually in relatively small
amounts. They have been found in water at temperature
between 6°C and 60°C. There is an optimum temperature
of between 20°C and 45°C that seems to favour
their proliferation and they are normally killed off by
temperatures above 60°C but can survive for short
periods at temperatures of up to 80¡C. The initial
stage in the prevention of legionella is a Risk Assessment.
The purpose of the Assessment is to enable a valid decision
to be made regarding the risk to health, i.e. whether
the potential for harm to health from exposure is reasonably
foreseeable and to ensure that adequate precautionary
measures are taken. Also what measures for prevention,
or adequate control, to minimise the risk from exposure
to legionella, is taken. |
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Services and Capabilities
The Risk Assessment will take into
account the potential for droplet formation, whether
water temperatures and conditions exist which favour
the proliferation of legionella and other micro-organisms,
the likelihood of aerosol generation, the number of
people who may possibly be exposed to risk, the susceptibility
of those people that may be exposed and means of prevention
or controlling the risk.
An inspection of the water systems can be carried out
in order to
determine if any of the above conditions exist.
The assessment would consider not only the normal running
conditions
of the system but also to the possible consequences
arising from malfunction, breakdown, repair or maintenance
of the water systems.
Complementary Services
ESP has a range of complementary
services including, stack emissions monitoring, atmospheric
dispersion modelling, environmental noise assessment,
asbestos, legionella risk assessment and water/waste
water management.
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