Legionella is a bacterium found existing naturally in water and soil. When it colonises in high concentration, it poses a health risk.
Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by such bacteria, infecting the respiratory tract. It has a mortality risk of 30%.
Cooling towers serve as an ideal breeding ground for these bacteria to colonise and are thus, investigated first for Legionella outbreaks.
The govt. of NSW through its Legionella Task Force has changed laws as per operation, testing and maintenance of cooling towers throughout the state. The 2018 regulations have strengthened measures to protect the public from the risk of Legionella outbreaks. The govt. is much concerned about Legionella prevention and control.
Changed measures are as follows:
RMPs-
Cooling towers must each now have a Risk Management Plan (RMP), developed every year for high-risk systems and once in 5 years for medium and low-risk systems. Legionella Regulations is a company which will help with RMP.
The RMP is a vital safeguard to prevent Legionella outbreaks and to document best practices for controlling the growth of the bacteria while considering risks unique to the cooling water systems.
RMP must be completed by a competent person.
• Can provide safe and satisfactory performance.
• Has adequate training
• Has practical experience
RMP assessment involves:
• Interviews with concerned personnel.
• Site visits to cooling tower and inspection.
• Review of current documents like monthly reports of inspection and chemical analysis etc.
RMP components are:
• Risk analysis of total growth of Legionella and transmission in the cooling tower.
• Residual risk determines the frequency of RMP: every 1 year (high risk), every 5 years (low and medium risk).
Risk evaluation
Risk evaluation is submitted. Risk levels of low, medium and high are assigned on the basis of 5 risk categories:
• Nutrient availability and growth
• Stagnant water
• Poor quality of water
• Location and access to the cooling tower
• Problems in the cooling water system
Maintenance plan
A plan is developed to earmark the frequency of various maintenance activities linked to the cooling water system. The regulations need a minimum frequency of:
• Monthly inspections
• Maintenance including servicing on a monthly basis
• Microbial testing every month
• Monthly chemical analysis (such as corrosion monitoring)
• Six monthly cleaning
Action Plan
The competent person must develop an action plan for control of identified risks within a suitable time frame. Compliance with stipulations of the action plan will be reviewed every year by an auditor.
Certificate of RMP completion
It must be provided to the local authority, within seven days of completion.
Audits
Every year, an independent audit of the RMP must be completed.
Documentation
Five years of documentation must be available within 4 hours of a request by an authorised officer.
Monthly Form 3
On a monthly basis, a duly qualified person must complete an Approved Form 3 template summarizing monthly results and a mini-assessment of risks.
UIDs
Every cooling tower must have its own UID (Unique Identification Number), displayed clearly on the tower.
Registration
Every cooling tower must be registered with the local authority.
Testing
All cooling towers in NSW must be subject to monthly lab testing for Legionella and HCC (Heterotrophic Colony Count). Legionella Regulations helps in such maintenance of cooling towers.
Reporting
High levels of Legionella and HCC must be reported to the authorities.
These are all aspects of new regulations for Legionella prevention and control in NSW. They are essential for maintaining the health of the public.
Legionella Regulations 