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When putting together a water hygiene management plan, you should start by outlining any areas of the water system that could harm the supply’s health and quality. This can be determined through a carrying out a full risk assessment.
With the areas identified, the plan should also highlight any measures such as physical or chemical treatment that have been put in place to limit the potential hygiene risks. On top of listing the preventative measures the plan must also include instruction on how they are carried out to reduce these risks.
We’d recommend keeping all this information in a log book which also details who the responsibility of the various checks and treatments falls to, as well as any emergency procedures and a schematic drawing of the water system.
With a solid water hygiene management plan and log book in place, you can ensure all legal obligations are met and that any identified risks are being treated effectively.
Carrying out water hygiene risk assessments should be at the heart of a good water management plan as this ensures your supply is fit for use.
As the owner or person in charge of a premise, it is your responsibility as well as a legal requirement to ensure that your water systems receive regular Legionella and water hygiene risk assessments.
Through these assessments you need to establish whether any parts of your water systems are creating an environment that could lead to the accelerated growth of harmful bacteria. As this requires in-depth knowledge on different water systems and the conditions that lead to this risk, we’d recommend having all assessments carried out by a professional with a background in water hygiene.
If no risks are found, or if the risk level is low thanks to an efficient water management system, then no further action will be required although you will need to maintain your existing controls.
In the case that a significant risk is found, you will need to adjust your current water management plan to include additional treatments so that the overall hygiene stays in line with legal requirements.
Regular on-site water hygiene risk assessments are important to maintain the health and wellbeing of any staff or visitors. These checks should look at areas like the condition and hygiene of the water storage system, the temperature the water is stored at as well as the quality of the systems in place to prevent the growth of Legionella.
The level of monitoring your system requires will depend on the size of your buildings as well as the water services available on-site. As a guide, we’d recommend that a small to medium sized office or factory reviews its water storage tanks and temperatures monthly along with an annual review of the whole water management system.
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