Download An engineering approach to legionella control in Health care Facilities

School of Civil and Building Services Engineering
Department of Building Services Engineering
“An engineering approach to legionella control
in Health care Facilities”
By Paul Cleary
Table of contents
 What is legionella
 How it affects people
 Legislation dealing with legionella
 Case studies
 Lessons learned
 The role of the Building Services Engineer
What is legionella ?
 Human Hair: 10ˉ⁶ m
 Legionella Bacteria: 10ˉ⁹m
Legionella related deaths
 Spain-Costa Blanca-January 2012-2 deaths
 Basildon Hospital-Essex- August 2011-1 death
 Spain-Murcia-July 2001-6 deaths
 Ireland-67 reported cases between 2001 and 2007
resulting in 5 deaths
Optimum growth conditions for legionella
Who is at risk ?
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Older people –over age 40Males
People who smoke
People who drink to excess
People with suppressed immune systems. For example
HIV sufferers or organ transplant recipients
 People with underlying health problems such as
diabetes, heart complaints and respiratory problems.
 People with impaired choking reflex such as stroke
sufferers
Legionella related legislation
 The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005
 The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work ( General
Application ) Regulations 2007
 The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) -
The Management of legionnaires’ disease in Ireland
(Endorsing HSC Approved Code of Practice);
Case Studies
St Patrick’s University Hospital
Basildon University Hospital
 I work there
 In a neighbouring Country so
relevant to Ireland
 Directly involved with
legionella prevention
programme
 Access and permission to
publish data-test results etc-
 Has suffered recent outbreaks
of legionellosis
 Has been fined for legionella
related deaths in the past
Lessons learned
 Independent risk assessment essential
 Design and build of hot and cold water storage and
supply systems critical
 The role of chlorine dioxide
 Regular independent water sample testing
 Interaction with stakeholders
Cold water storage
Chlorine dioxide plant
Infection
Control
Committee
Outside
Agencies
Building
Services
Engineer
Household
& Catering
Staff
Nursing
Staff