Legionella Leads

Advice on Preparing a Bid Proposal

Legionella Dave — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:08:51 +0000

We have found some useful resources from the Tenders in Cornwall website. Most of you will have been preparing a bid proposal for some time, some not that long.

Needless to say, it is always nice to be re-assured by those marking the tenders that you are giving them what they want.

Tenders in Cornwall have provided a list of example outlines of the structures and key points of successful bids.

They have been developed from responses submitted to their local public sector organisations. You can compare each exemplar with the corresponding invitation to tender.

Some Cooling Towers Risk Assessments Once Every Ten Years

Legionella Dave — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 11:55:56 +0000

SCOTLAND’S top virus expert has called for a public inquiry into the recent legionella  outbreak which claimed the lives of three men.

Professor Hugh Pennington has warned of more outbreaks after discovering many of the country’s cooling towers are being inspected as infrequently as once every ten years.

Legionnaires’ disease is one of the nastiest and most lethal of infectious diseases in the UK,” he said. “But it is utterly  preventable. Something went badly wrong in Edinburgh. A public inquiry is the most  effective way to establish the facts around what went wrong and to prevent yet more outbreaks.

More than 100 people contracted the bug, which began in the south-west of Edinburgh in May. Investigations to find the source are ongoing and continue to centre on industrial cooling towers in the area.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has already issued notices to some of the businesses that run towers being investigated, calling for them to be  better maintained and regulated.

There are about 6,000 cooling towers across the UK and the HSE only has responsibility for inspecting about half of them. The rest are checked by local councils.

Latest figures show in 2011 the HSE inspected just 134 cooling towers – compared with 237 the year before.

Prof Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, said the towers were being inspected ten times less often than premises which sell food.

“There is a real lack of co-ordination regarding who inspects all of these towers, how often they do so and even where all these towers are,” he said.

There are genuine fears some towers will be going under the radar and not inspected at all.“Given all of this, I worry other outbreaks will follow, putting more lives at risk. This risk is real and the bug is not going away.

“Some people who fall victim to Legionnaires’ do have underlying health conditions but it is no good blaming things like smoking and drinking for this.“The bottom line is that three people died after getting Legionnaires’ in Edinburgh and other areas of the UK.

“People should not be dying from this in this day and age.

“Yes, inquiries are expensive ,but so is the cost of looking after people infected with  Legionnaires’ in our hospitals. Ultimately, an inquiry would save money and lives.”

Scottish Labour last night backed the inquiry call. The party’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie, said: “Prof Pennington’s intervention is significant and his authoritative voice should be a reason for the Scottish Government to pause and reflect on their decision not to have an independent inquiry.”

Original Article

Do Your Clients Have Cooling Towers?… If so read on…

Legionella Dave — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 12:18:05 +0000

More doom and gloom as the HSE issues a notice to draw attention to key aspects of the proper management of the risks from legionella, specifically from cooling towers or evaporative condensers…

However every cloud has silver lining…

Statements like these are great trigger to engage in conversation with your customers. They not only provide a topical issue for you to discuss cooling tower safety with your clients but as the notice comes directly from the HSE, there is gravitas attached and they will have no choice but to take notice.

“So how do we approach our clients?”

There are a number of ways to engage your clients, smaller firms or larger firms with a number of account managers should just pick up the phone or perhaps send a personal email linking to the HSE Notice saying that you are always a phone call away for some health and safety advice.

However, for a more targeted approach with big ambition you may want to consider;

Holding a Cooling Tower Safety Seminar: It’s a great way to get all your clients in one place and discuss best practice on how your firm is able to make their cooling tower systems safe. Great way to get some potentially new clients too!
Create a cooling tower safety tick list: This is a very straight-forward way to get your message across and will provide an excellent leave-behind after your monthly account meetings or even as a direct mail opportunity. Perhaps even include it in your monthly invoices (they usually need to be signed off by an estates manager) or your regular monitoring reports.
Email marketing: If your customers have at some point provided you with an email, use it to get in touch. If you don’t have a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, your accounts team may have the email addresses. If you have an electronic log-book system, you may want to export customer email addresses from their. Be sure not spam your customers though, they must opt-in to receive email from you

If you would like any advice with the above then we can help you!

Just drop us en email, let us know what kind of assistance you need and we’ll take it from there!

Legionella Dave

HSE Opens Consultation on Revision of Legionella L8 ACoP

Legionella Dave — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 09:09:04 +0000

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has opened consultations on proposals to review the Legionella L8 ACoP, Approved Codes of Practices and compliance related ACoPs, as recommended by Professor Löfstedt’s independent review of health and safety legislation, ‘Reclaiming health and safety for all’.

The consultation seeks views on proposals for the revision, consolidation or withdrawal of 15 ACoPs, which are to be delivered by end-2013 and on proposals for minor revisions, or no changes, to a further 15 ACoPs which are to be delivered by 2014.

These include a proposal to withdraw the ACoP for the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and replace it with a suite of more specific, updated guidance by 2013. This includes the Legionella L8 ACoP as detailed in section 1 below.

It also seeks views on a proposal to limit all ACoP documents to a maximum length of 32 pages, other than in exceptional circumstances.

There are three main sections; to revise, consolidate or withdraw ACoPs, to make minor revisions or no changes to ACoPs or proposals to introduce a limit on the length of ACoP documents.

Section 1 – Proposals to revise, consolidate or withdraw ACoPs cover:

Dangerous substances and explosive atmospheres (ACoPs L134 – 138)
Legionella (ACoP L8)
Asbestos (ACoPs L127, L143)
Gas safety (ACoPs L56, COP20
Hazardous substances (ACoP L5)
Workplaces (ACoP L24)
Management of health and safety (ACoP L21)
Agriculture (ACoP L116)
Pipelines (ACoP L81)

Section 2 – Proposals to make minor amendments or no changes to ACoPs cover:

Diving (ACoPs L103 – 107)
Work equipment (ACoPs L22, L112, L114)
Lifting equipment (ACoP L113)
Confined spaces (ACoP L101)
Pressure systems (ACoP L122)
Hazardous substances – pottery production (ACoP L60)
Hazardous substances – lead (ACoP L132)
Quarries (ACoP L118)
Worker involvement (ACoP L146)

Section 3 – Introducing a limit on the length of ACoPs:

Proposal that all ACoP documents be limited to a maximum length of 32 pages, other than in exceptional circumstances.

This consultation began on 25 June 2012 and ends on 14 September 2012.

What Now?

You can and should respond to this consultation using any one of the options presented below.

Respond by making comments against the consultation document
Respond by filling in the online questionnaire - Require Registration to HSE Website
Respond by uploading a response document - Require Registration to HSE Website

This will clearly have an effect on the education and messages your clients need. We suggest keeping your clients informed about the consultation and differentiate yourself by becoming a trusted source during this process;

Put a PowerPoint presentation together outlining the aims of the consultation and a summary of the Löfstedt Review to present at your next customer meeting
Make a Q&A Document and send it to clients via email with clear actions
Hold a seminar for your clients to help ease their fears of the consultation and educate them as to what the outcome may mean to them.

That’s all for now

Legionella Dave

Firms not legally required to report legionella bacteria

Legionella Dave — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 08:55:54 +0000

Calls have been made for a change in health and safety policy after it emerged that companies are not required to report finding legionella bacteria to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The issue came to light as the Health and Sport Committee met at Holyrood to discuss the way that a recent outbreak of legionnaire’s disease was handled in Edinburgh.

Mike Crockart, Liberal Democrat MSP for Edinburgh West, said: “I’m surprised that, when faced with a public health issue, any company would choose to keep life-threatening information to themselves but I’m astounded that, if the evidence to the Health and Sport Committee is correct, a company wouldn’t even have a legal responsibility to inform the HSE.”

The most recent outbreak of legionnaire’s has seen the deaths of two people and it is vitally important that as soon as any signs of the bacteria are found that they are contained, otherwise it could be fatal for more people.

By not having it enshrined in law that on discovering the bacteria a company is required to report it could lead to delays as firms weigh up the potential effects on business.

Recently Alistair Darling, former chancellor and MP for Edinburgh, suggested that the process for inspecting cooling towers be overhauled.

Places where water is stagnant such as cooling towers are most likely to be the locations where the legionella bacteria are found.

Pam Waldron, HSE director in Scotland, said: “We are actually reviewing our approved codes of practice at the moment.

“We have commissioned research by the health and safety laboratory into the last ten years of outbreaks so that we can see what lessons need to learned from that.”

Voluntary codes of practice go some way to help guide businesses in the best practice, but with something as serious as legionnaire’s disease the law needs to be invoked in order to communicate the importance to all of those involved.

Meanwhile a grandmother is currently in a medically induced coma after having contracted legionnaire’s disease in the latest outbreak.

sourced via;

Companies not legally required to report finding #legionella prompts calls for a change in the health and safety policy bit.ly/LKoZBs

— Tony Rycyk (@reclegionella) July 2, 2012

New Legionnaires Disease Guide for Duty Holders

Legionella Dave — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:06:32 +0000

Just in case you didn’t know, a new Legionnaires Disease Guide has been produced by the HSE aimed at employers and people in control of premises, eg landlords, where man-made water systems are used that could be a potential source for legionella bacteria growth.

Its free to download and could potentially be used for you to send out to your clients as a freebie or to trigger conversation, especially with regards to what’s going on in Edinburgh.

The Legionella Directory

Legionella Dave — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 10:37:56 +0000

Because we are pretty good at SEO and we get hundreds of visitors a month mistaking us for a water treatment or legionella maintenance company, we have decided to build the Legionella Directory.

Some companies have already taken advantage of the directory and are already listed. Make sure you don’t miss out on your FREE listing!

Environmental, Equality and Apprenticeships – Part 2 of 3

Legionella Dave — Mon, 21 May 2012 10:54:29 +0000

Part 2 – Equality

This is the one which used to get my goat the most. I knew that my company was an equal opportunities employer, I knew that I wasn’t racist, sexist, fascist or prejudiced about anyone based on background or appearance. However, we need to prove this and promote it within our organisations. Especially if we also want to be rewarded for it by tenderers!

Again, an equality statement is a must. If you don’t have statements for these areas you can lose marks. Besides its important for your company to have a stance on these issues.
In order to maximise the equality opportunity, you can integrate equality training into your company induction training system (assuming you have one). This is a quick win and shows that you actively promote equality and train your staff in the necessary legal obligations. As well as training, the company I used to work for included it as a recurring agenda item on management health and safety review meetings, usually once a quarter and weekly internal meetings.
Maximising internal opportunities is quite straightforward but in order to really stand out in front of your competitors and promote best practice in equality and diversity, try to make use of resources available outside the organisation. ACAS are the largest provider of equality services throughout the UK, read their brochure here on ways they can help, some free, some paid.
One of the best and most cost-effective ways of illustrating best practice and a proactive stance in equality is to join a local/regional steering group and become active in promoting equality in our organisations and industry. You might be saying to yourself that there are no steering groups or initiatives like that in your area. If you are honest with yourself, the truth is you probably haven’t looked. I can assure you there are! I just Googled Cheshire equality group (where I am based) and found 3 possible opportunities of getting involved.
Getting involved doesn’t mean you will become chairman of the group and spend your days lobbying government, it just means you are taking a positive interest in promoting equality and integrating it into your companies strategic objectives. A few paragraphs and some pictures in your PQQ and tender submissions and you are well on your way to standing out as an equality champion.
You may also want to get in touch with any public sector clients as many of them are bang up to speed with the legislation and already doing things. They will appreciate the thought and effort, and it won’t do your relationship any harm either!
If you can find an Equality themed charity event then you can much more bang for your buck;

Charity events bring a whole heap of good PR for your organisation.
When you raise money for charity, the charity tend to give you free exposure off the back of your efforts.
Equality themed charity will only enhance your standing in this important issue and give you plenty of collateral for your all important proposals.
Last but not least, doing some good is always a positive thing, regardless of rewards.

ACAS provide free e-learning employment modules online. Visit Here.

Environmental, Equality and Apprenticeships – Part 1 of 3

Legionella Dave — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:33:33 +0000

OK… You probably already know where this is going…

This started out as one post, however as I started writing, I soon realised that it would take forever to read, and twice as long if you were going to act on some of the helpful points below. So I have decided to break it up into 3 parts;

Environmental
Equality
Apprenticeships

Environmental, Equality and Apprenticeships, the importance is probably in that order for most of you. This is largely due to the fact that they are scored as such and have similar weightings in water management tenders.

With regards to actually delivering a Legionella management contract, I think we can all agree these subjects are completely unrelated and pose no correlation how you carry out tank cleans or temperature monitoring or any other service for that matter!

However…

They are an important part of ethical business practice and scored thus, therefore, can get you on the tender list if you maximise this often neglected area.

You can do better, but how?

Part 1 – Environmental

If you haven’t, you really should, have an environmental statement. This is a must for any contract now, let alone getting you extra browning points. In fact not having one will probably mean you can’t get on the tender list.
I know this sounds very simple (and it is) but separate what waste can be recycled to what can’t for a month. You may already be doing this. Once you have done this for 30 days, you can then work out what percentage of your paper is recycled and state “We recycle X% of our waste every month” and explain the system you use. Better yet, shred all your paper waste and recycle it, you can then boast that you recycle 100% of your paper waste.
Alternatively, use an external company that collects confidential paper waste and recycles it too, voila! They send you a shiny certificate saying that all your paper waste has been recycled and you have saved 100 trees! All the work is done for you.

Apart from going for a full-blown ISO 14001 Environmental Management System , which will undoubtedly tick a box and also mean you can skip a few questions, there is more you can do. The purpose of this exercise is not to satisfy to the criteria, but to blow it out the water and stand in front of your competitors.

A good way of showing a proactive stance on environmental issues is action. Below are some quick (quick compared to an ISO 14001 audit) fixes to gain some eco-credentials

If you have land, get a few people from within the office together, invite a local school to participate and plant some tree’s in that spare land. Meanwhile, write a press release for it and lobby all your local media organisations, local paper, local radio etc. Inviting the school provides many benefits; a) socio-economic involvement, i.e. getting involved in the local community/education, b) a problem shared is a problem halved. You can be sure that the school will market the heck out of something like this as it shows they are doing a good job teaching kids about the environment.
In the same vein as above, volunteer for some local environmental groups (only for a few weekends a year) and you can use the good PR in your submissions. Again, lobby your local news agencies.
And finally, assuming you have done the above (or something similar), the inevitable collateral which would have been resultant of your efforts will be useful for putting together an environmental award submission for a local or regional environmental initiative. Nothing shouts louder than your competitors than local environmental award winner. Environmental awards are being given out everyday, get on Google and find the nearest one, usually via your local council.
It’s also important not to forget the most important people in business development… your current customers. They too will see the benefits in proactive environmental initiatives so get in touch with them to see if they want to get involved in something too. Plus, it provides a really good trigger to engage with your customers and build your relationship.

Read Part Two

Legionella PQQ Completion Service

Legionella Dave — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:43:53 +0000

We are now pleased to offer a Legionella PQQ completion service to our subscribers!

Due to some shuffling of work and some spinning of proverbial plates, we now have a dedicated team capable of providing a water treatment and Legionella PQQ completion service.

We have created a page for this service so head over and take a look at our offer…