Legionella in Wrexham
Sourced from The Guardian:
COUNCIL chiefs are drawing up a battle plan to clamp down on the deadly legionella bug.
New procedures are being drawn up by Wrexham which will try to minimise the chances of the bacteria flourishing in council premises in water systems, water stores and cooling towers.
Under the proposed new risk and management policy there will be a hierarchy of responsibility from Wrexham council’s chief executive down.
If people contract the disease and the council is found liable it could result in unlimited fines and even imprisonment if individuals are culpable.
Managers with responsibility for monitoring the disease will be appointed for all council premises.
Staff training will be implemented to clamp down on the deadly bacteria including performing rigorous checks and measures to stop it developing.
Risk assessments will be also carried out at sites where Legionnaire’s disease could thrive.
All holding water tanks will be covered and fitted with air vents to ensure temperatures do not rise.
The plan will go before the corporate governance and policy scrutiny committee on Wednesday before moving to executive board for final approval.
There have been a few Legionnaire’s disease scares in recent years across North Wales – in one case it proved fatal.
Bangor Swimming Pool was closed for disinfecting earlier this month after tests showed high levels of legionella bacteria in shower water.
In August last year a woman who worked at Wrexham’s Tesco Extra shop was signed off work for two weeks with the disease, although supermarket chiefs said they were 100% sure she did not contract the infection in the store.