6 Ways to Simplify Legionella Compliance

Drowning in stacks of paper records, most businesses struggle to understand their legionella compliance. It’s a challenge to make even basic information up-to-date and conveniently accessible.

But, there’s no avoiding the need to keep records. Standards and codes of practice like ACoP L8 and HSG274 don’t just require you to put the necessary controls in place to stop the spread of legionella. You also need to demonstrate your compliance using detailed, accurate reporting.

Move away from paper-based techniques that make management harder. Here’s 6 ways to simplify Legionella Compliance.

1. Start with the foundation of great expertise

Make sure you have the right expertise on your side. Any system - online or paper-based - is only as good as the data that goes into it. You’ll need a team that can attend on-site to make sense of your water system, tailor your maintenance schedule, and react to unusual trends or scheduled checks.

A more sophisticated compliance system alone won’t make you compliant. It’s simply a tool that needs to be combined with human know-how and expert engineers.

2. Build an asset register for your water system

If you’re dealing with multiple sites, a sprawling site or a complex water system that has been upgraded and added to over the years, it can be hard to even know how your system works. This is a combination of ageing assets, the gradual creep of changes, and the added obstacle of disorganised paper records.

A detailed asset register makes sure you understand all the varied elements of your system and how they fit together. As a result, you can be confident you’re taking steps to control legionella in every single component.

3. Schedule tasks and tests in advance

From system-wide legionella risk assessments to ongoing sampling, keeping legionella controlled is a never-ending process. Before you can consider what the results mean, you’ll need to know two things: what to test and when to test it.

An initial assessment should identify risk levels for all the parts of your water system. For example, places where temperature control is impaired are ideal places for the legionella bacteria to grow. Based on your water system, you will also understand how often water should be sampled and tested. An online system can streamline the process by scheduling these tasks and alerting you or your provider when they need to be completed.

4. Consider all your data in its proper context

When it comes to understand and eliminating risk, context is crucial. A single water sample may suggest a minor, short-term issue - but if this has been an upward trend over your past five samples, the problem may be more severe.

Analysing your data for trends and patterns is almost impossible with paper-based records. Results are simply filed away and forgotten about. An online system can automatically analyse your data for you, dramatically improving your understanding without adding to your workload.

5. Improve resource management

Many of the tasks involved in legionella control, from physical inspections to sampling, are manual processes conducted by an individual. As a result, it’s a challenge to verify that actions are being completed properly and on-time, every time.

An online compliance system can be seamlessly connected to real-world activity. Handheld scanners and smartphones can be used to record work completed on the job, and even scan barcodes on areas of your system to confirm the engineer is examining the right asset.

6. Simplify management with an online system

An online, cloud-based compliance system can give you real-time visibility of your compliance to ACoP L8 and HSG274. With a dashboard available from anywhere, you can view all your assets and locations in one place, understand your compliance, and generate instant reports.

At Comfort Services Group, we created Comfort Compliance to help businesses improve visibility. Paired with our engineer expertise, the system eliminates the risk of inaccurate data, automates and schedules routine tasks, and is already configured to ACoP L8 and HSG274.

It’s a way to save time and money while ensuring everything gets done and nothing is ever missed. Learn more about our Comfort Compliance service.