Legionnaires’ Disease Prevention: 10 things you need to know

April 3, 2019
Are you aware of the risk of Legionnaires’ disease in your building? This article from business utilities consultant Smarter Business highlights 10 things you need to know about the bacteria.

Legionnaires’ disease prevention should be on the radar for any school, nursing home, healthcare institute, hotel or other large building. The disease may not be as rare as you think, with a 450% increase of reported cases in the past two decades.

What is Legionnaires’ disease?

Legionnaires’ disease develops when people breathe in small droplets of water infected by the Legionella bacteria. This potentially fatal disease is a severe form of pneumonia that affects around 500 people a year in England alone. It is fatal in approximately one in 10 cases. Legionella bacteria colonies may grow in man-made water systems.

For this reason, it’s important to control the risks by introducing appropriate testing and prevention measures. Here are 10 things you need to know about Legionnaires’ disease prevention

1. Legionnaires’ disease is a notifiable disease. This means that health professionals are required to inform local health protection teams of suspected cases.

2. Although Legionella bacteria can be found in harmlessly low numbers in natural water systems, it can multiply rapidly in artificial water supply systems such as air conditioning and water warming systems.

3. Legionnaires’ outbreaks usually peak between July and September in the UK (during the warmer summer months).

4. Legionnaires’ disease can infect your building’s hot and cold water systems.

5. Larger buildings with more complex water supplies – such as hospitals, hotels, and office blocks – are more vulnerable to Legionella contamination as bacteria in these systems can spread quickly.

6. The risk temperature range is between 20-45 degrees Celsius. A hot water system should be set to 60 degrees centigrade so that it delivers water to the taps at 55 degrees.

7. It is a legal duty to monitor and check your water temperatures constantly and to assess whether any Legionella risk is pre-set.

8. A Legionella risk assessment must take the individual characteristics of each hot and cold water system into account.

9. All records of assessments and testing of the water system should be kept on hand for two years and then stored or available for up to five years.

10. Sites should have diagrams of their water systems.

 

EAN Content

Content shared by this account is either news shared free by third parties or sponsored (paid for) content from third parties. Please be advised that links to third party websites are not endorsed by Estate Agent Networking - Please do your own research before committing to any third party business promoted on our website. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

You May Also Enjoy

Estate Agent Talk

Buying Alone? What Solo Buyers Need to Know Before Making an Offer on a House

Figures show that solo buyers accounted for 36.9% of Barclays’ mortgage completions in June 2026, as more people chose to step onto the property ladder without a partner beside them. Choosing independence over waiting for a joint purchase has doubled over the last 50+ years, with solo first-time buyers doubling from 15% before 1980 to…
Read More →
Estate Agent Talk

How to Make a New-Build Living Room Feel Less Like a Show Home

An empty new-build living room can be surprisingly difficult to furnish. The walls are freshly painted, the sockets are in place, and there is nothing to remove before decorating begins. Yet once the sofa arrives, the room can still feel unsettled: too bare in some places, awkwardly crowded in others. The answer rarely involves buying…
Read More →
Breaking News

Mortgage Borrowing Dip

Key points: Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased to £3.9 billion in September, from £4.2 billion in August, below the previous 6-month average of £4.9 billion. Net mortgage approvals for house purchases decreased to 53,400 in September, below an average of around 58,800 over the previous 6-months. Approvals for remortgaging increased to 42,600…
Read More →
Breaking News

Autumn Budget 2026: Property industry reaction

Following today’s Autumn Budget, reaction from property industry experts on six key areas for the property market. First-time buyer support: The £4.7bn Your First Home equity loan scheme, supporting 70,000 buyers, alongside the introduction of a new First Time Buyer ISA. Inflation and borrowing costs: The extension of the fuel duty freeze, household energy support…
Read More →
Breaking News

Can you legally BAN Halloween Trick or Treaters?

People who dread the annual knock of trick-or-treaters may have more power to keep Halloween callers away than they realise. As millions of children prepare to take to the streets on October 31, a property law expert has explained what homeowners can do if they do not want strangers walking up their path or knocking…
Read More →
Estate Agent Talk

What the sector need to do differently to give first time buyers a chance

By Peter Hawley, Director, SOWN (part of LRG) The mortgage and property sector needs to stop assuming that younger buyers are either ready to buy outright or not ready at all. For many, the reality is somewhere in between. They may have stable employment, a deposit and a strong desire to own, but still find…
Read More →