Hardly a month goes by without a legionella outbreak in Scotland but why is this?

Recently in Dundee there were two separate holiday venues under investigation for Legionella outbreaks and now there is an additional case in the Shetland Islands.

The question is why? Is it that the medical profession are far more rigorous about testing for Legionnaire’s Disease when someone falls sick? Tom Makin, an independent expert still believes that 90 per cent of UK cases of Legionnaire’s disease go unreported, so this is unlikely to be the main cause for this leap.

Perhaps the bitterly cold winter where Scotland suffered the brunt of the freezing conditions may have had an effect. However, these resorts and venues serve the public all year and therefore should already have a rigorous testing and maintenance schedule in place, on at least a monthly basis. So the winter cannot be blamed for so many independent outbreaks in one area.

The common train of thought is that in these austere times, corners may have been cut and testing may not have been as rigorous as it has been in the past - or perhaps these locations are just plain unlucky. Nevertheless, Legionella did not appear overnight and there is always at least one, and often a number, of contributory causes. David Harper, an independent expert points out that there is always a reason as to how Legionella is encouraged to proliferate. Whether it is from cracked hoses, unclean tanks, biofilm growth around some foreign object in the supply, deadlegs containing water within the heat range to encourage growth – there is always a reason!

Regardless, this is horrendous PR not only for the premises involved but also for the Scottish Tourist Board which will be counting on many of the stay-at-home holiday makers coming to Scotland.

Our advice as Legionella Specialists is to ensure that you establish a more rigorous testing and monitoring procedure than ever before. As a Facilities or Buildings Manager, it is not good enough now to pay lip service to the procedures that adhere to ACOP L8 guidance, but you also need to ensure that your contractor does too. There are, after all, already plenty of cases where both the contractors AND the organisation employing them have been successfully prosecuted, including a crown censure on the Northern Ireland Prison Service, which means that this is not an empty suggestion - It may become your reality!