Health and safety risk assessment training must consider cooling towers
The Health and Safety Executive has issued a notice in relation to safety regarding the legionella danger posed by the use of evaporative cooling towers. According to the HSE, the public as well as a company’s own workers are at risk because of “common failings in control, and a potential risk of further legionella outbreaks, such as that in Edinburgh in June 2012.”
The HSE bulletin was based on a systematic consideration of legionella outbreaks in the UK during the past decade. It comes on the heels of a recent legionella incident in Stoke-on-Trent. That outbreak has not been definitively linked to cooling towers as of yet, but it has killed one individual and infected more than a dozen others. According to reports, 7 cooling towers in Stoke-on-Trent are being analysed in an effort to trace the cause of the outbreak. All seven have also been disinfected as a precautionary measure.
Health and safety risk assessment training must take both evaporative condensers and cooling towers into account because according to the HSE, these devices are the most widespread root cause of most large-scale legionella outbreaks. In fact, the HSE has estimated that up to 90% of all outbreaks may be traced back to health and safety audits that failed to note serious issues with such systems, or that did not recognise the signs indicating a possible issue with legionella.
The HSE safety bulletin added that health and safety audits to curtail legionella are particularly important during the summer months, when warm temperatures can cause the legionella bacteria to thrive and reproduce.
