Legionella compliance in schools is far from a regulatory “box-ticking” exercise. Indeed, it needs to be treated as a critical aspect of safeguarding the health and wellbeing of school pupils, staff, and visitors alike.
In the UK, schools face unique challenges in managing water systems, where poor control can lead to harmful bacteria proliferating. One example of such bacteria is legionella, which can be contained in droplets of water that people then breathe in. This can put them at risk of contracting Legionnaires’ disease, a potentially very serious form of pneumonia.
Legionella risk management at a school intersects with broader duties under UK health and safety law. Failures to manage this risk can result in legal consequences, reputational damage, and enforcement actions from regulators like the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The “responsible persons” at schools – often headmasters and estates managers – cannot rely on reactive controls alone. An active management system is essential to proactively identify, assess, and mitigate risks in relation to legionella. Putting such arrangements in place helps ensure ongoing compliance and defensibility in the event of an inspection or incident.
What is legionella and why are schools particularly vulnerable?
Legionella bacteria naturally occur in water sources; however, they can thrive in manmade water systems where conditions allow for multiplication.
If someone at a school site inhales aerosolised water droplets containing these bacteria, they may go on to develop Legionnaires’ disease. People with weakened immune systems, such as young children or staff with underlying health conditions, can be at particular risk.
Water systems in a school can create risk if temperatures are between 20°C and 45°C – the optimal range for bacterial growth – and water stagnates due to low flow.
A number of school-specific factors can amplify vulnerability to legionella:
- The intermittent use of water systems, with taps and showers seeing variable demand
- Extended holiday closures, which allow water to sit unused
- The older or adapted plumbing systems common in many UK school buildings, which may encompass dead legs (unused pipe sections) or complex layouts
- Large numbers of outlets, ranging from classroom sinks to sports facilities. These water systems probably won’t all be used as often as each other, which can further complicate efforts to control the risk.
Schools tend to be perceived as relatively “low-risk” environments for legionella. However, serious compliance issues can arise in these settings in the absence of proactive monitoring, as bacteria can proliferate unnoticed until an outbreak occurs.
What makes schools a higher-risk environment for legionella?
Contrary to perceptions in some quarters, schools cannot be treated as automatically “lower-risk” environments from a legionella perspective.
Indeed, school buildings often feature designs that inadvertently heighten legionella risks. Examples of these potentially problematic elements include extensive pipe networks, multiple storage tanks, and additions from refurbishments that may not integrate seamlessly with existing systems.
Moreover, unlike the relatively consistent occupancy patterns of many standard commercial buildings, schools tend to see fluctuating use over a year. This is characterised by high usage of the buildings during lessons, followed by reduced flow in the evenings and at weekends, and near-zero activity during holidays.
Changes in how school buildings are used, such as expansions or the conversion of spaces for new purposes, can introduce new hazards like altered water flow or additional outlets.
Unmanaged change is a common cause of legionella compliance failure at school sites. For example, dead ends may be created or temperature controls altered without updated assessments being carried out.
Such complexity underscores why schools require tailored management of legionella risks; generic, “one-size-fits-all” approaches are insufficient.
What are the legal and regulatory requirements for schools?
Across different school governance models in the UK, there can be variations in who the “duty holder” and “responsible person” are in relation to legionella risk:
- The “duty holder” for a given school is the employer or the person in control of the premises. In the case of a maintained school, this is typically the local authority, whereas for an academy, it will be the academy trust. The “duty holder” for an independent school, meanwhile, is typically the establishment’s governing body.
- The “responsible person” is appointed by the duty holder. This person, often a school business manager or site manager, handles day-to-day management and compliance with legionella requirements. They must be competent in water hygiene.
Key legislation with regard to legionella risk management in the UK encompasses the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
The HSE also makes available important guidance publications relevant to legionella risk management at a school:
- The Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance document, entitled Legionnaires’ disease: The control of legionella bacteria in water systems, under the L8 series code
- The Legionnaires’ disease: Technical guidance document under the series code HSG274
These documents outline various practical requirements, such as conducting a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, implementing a written scheme of control, monitoring and maintaining systems, and keeping records for a minimum of five years.
Regulators like the HSE assess compliance partly through inspections, particularly after an incident has occurred. Any breaches in legionella compliance requirements at a school can bring a risk of enforcement actions, such as improvement notices, prosecutions, or fines.
Evidence-based management of a school’s legionella risk is of critical importance for establishing defensibility. It helps demonstrate that in any given situation, all reasonably practicable steps have been taken to control risks.
What does a suitable and sufficient legionella risk assessment look like in a school?
An overly generic or outdated legionella risk assessment at a school premises will undermine compliance due to its failure to capture site-specific nuances.
Instead, then, it is crucial to arrange a truly school-specific risk assessment that evaluates the entire water system at the site. This should address elements including:
- The system’s condition and design, such as the identification of dead legs or calorifiers
- Usage patterns across both term and non-term time
- Risks from temperature control, stagnation, and outlets like showers or infrequently used taps
The findings of a school’s legionella risk assessment should translate into prioritised actions. These may encompass measures like the installation of thermostatic mixing valves (TMVs) or the scheduling of flushes.
A legionella risk assessment at a UK school should be reviewed regularly, such as every one or two years, to maintain compliance with HSE guidelines.
However, reviews at a greater frequency than this – perhaps even immediately – will be necessary if there are significant changes to the water system, building usage, or personnel, or if monitoring indicates poor control.
How should legionella risk be controlled and monitored day to day?
Control measures known to be effective for legionella risk at school premises include maintaining hot water above 50°C at outlets, with storage being at 60°C, and cold water kept below 20°C. Low-use outlets should also be regularly flushed, and storage tanks cleaned.
The proactive and responsible monitoring of school water systems, meanwhile, entails monthly temperature checks, quarterly sentinel outlet tests, and annual inspections.
Written schemes of control at a school site are crucial for outlining these procedures, promoting consistency and accountability.
For school estates teams, it is also vital for controls to be practical, to help ensure compliance is maintained without staff becoming overburdened. To this end, certain measures may be adopted, such as flushing being integrated into caretaker routines, or automated systems being introduced where feasible.
Why is working with a competent specialist important for managing legionella compliance risk?
School legionella compliance is fundamentally a governance and assurance issue. It is a process that necessitates expertise beyond a school’s in-house capabilities, to help ensure the responsible management of complex water systems.
By enlisting the right specialist support for your own educational establishment, you can help demonstrate due diligence and reasonable practicality, thereby aligning with HSE expectations.
Working with a team of suitably qualified professionals, like those of Assets & Compliance Managed Services (ACMS), can enable you to strengthen assessments, control schemes, and audit readiness at your school through the benefit of independent expertise.
The right independent oversight can go a long way to reducing your organisational and personal risk, by identifying compliance gaps that your school’s internal team might overlook. It can help embed robust, evidence-based adherence to legionella legislation and guidance.
Take a confident and defensible approach to legionella compliance
Effective legionella compliance at a school ultimately depends on integrated systems rather than isolated actions. A structured and well-evidenced approach will protect occupants from health threats, while shielding responsible persons from legal repercussions.
To learn more about ACMS’s far-reaching and in-depth legionella risk compliance solutions and knowhow, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.
