Public Health & Cooling Towers

Legionnaires' disease is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia which can affect anyone. There are many different types of Legionnaires' disease which are collectively named Legionellosis.

Legionella bacteria can be found in hot and cold water systems, plants which use and store water, and cooling tower systems.

The Notification Of Cooling Towers And Evaporative Condensers Regulations 1992 requires that all businesses that have these systems must notify the Local Authority. These water systems need to be kept clean and well maintained/managed.

The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires that duty holders properly assess the risk that these systems pose and properly controls them. For cooling towers and evaporative condensers this will include:-

Measures to maintain and monitor water quality
Maintenance and monitoring of equipment performance
Appointment of competent responsible persons for implementing these controls

Detailed guidance on the prevention and control of Legionellosis is contained in the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) L8 (Legionnaires' Disease "The control of legionella bacteria in water systems") ISBN 0-7176-1772-6.

This is available from:

HSE books,

PO Box 1999,

Sudbury,

Suffolk,

C010 6FS

TEL: 01787 881 165