The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Chemical
Agents) Regulations, 2001 (S.I. No. 619 of 2001).
Official copies of the legislation can be purchased
from the Government Publications Sale Office, Sun
Alliance House, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2, Tel:
01 - 647 6000 or copies can be downloaded from www.irishstatutebook.ie/.
3.1.2 Summary of legal requirements in relation to
the control of Legionella in Ireland
Considering the law relating to the protection of
workers as outlined below, then for any workplace,
the following obligations apply to employers, persons
who have control to any extent of a place of work
and to those installing plant or equipment in relation
to Legionella control:
(1) A documented risk assessment must be undertaken
by a competent person (Appendix C) to determine whether
conditions exist that allow theproliferation and aerosolisation
of Legionella bacteria together with the potential
for human exposure to such aerosols. The risk assessment
must be reviewed, particularly where any changes are
made that could have an impact on the risk e.g. alterations
to plumbing system, changes to work practices.
(2) Where a risk has been identified, appropriate
action must be taken to minimise or preferably eliminate
the risk of exposure to Legionella. Details of the
risk and control measures implemented must be included
in the workplace safety statement.
(3) Adequate information must be communicated to
employees about the risk and appropriate training
provided
(4) Control measures must be monitored and reviewed.
Finally, it is important that all risk assessments
and records are site-specific, are maintained and
readily accessible, including details of revisions
and when last reviewed. All relevant documentation
and records must be made available to the HSA or the
MOH when requested or required.
3.1.3 Outline and description of legislation
a) Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (S.I.
No. 10 of 2005)
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 applies
to employers, employees in all employments and to
the self-employed. It also has implications for persons
who control places of work and for those who design,
manufacture, import or supply articles or substances
for use at work.
It replaced the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work
Act 1989 (S.I. No. 7 of 1989). It does not specifically
refer to Legionella (or, indeed individual biological
hazards) but sets out the general principles to be
adopted at all workplaces to manage risk. Brief descriptions
are given of those provisions of most relevance to
Legionella control in Appendix D. Section 8 of the
2005 Act sets out the general duties of employers.
It must be borne in mind that, notwithstanding section
12 of the 2005 Act, the intent and purpose of this
legislation is protection of the health of employees
from hazards arising from work-related activities
or workplace conditions. Nevertheless, in any given
building, it is clear that Legionella exposure risks
apply, not only to workers, but also to others present
at the workplace who may be affected by virtue of
the work activity. Therefore the measures required
by law to manage the risk of Legionella exposure for
workers will, benefit all building users.
The employer and where applicable, any person who
has control to any extent of the place of work, are
required, by section 19 of the 2005 Act to carry out
a written risk assessment of the place of work, including,
assessing the risk to non-employees using the workplace.
The employer must then prepare a safety statement
(section 20 of the 2005 Act) setting out the way in
which risk is managed. It should be noted that this
does not purport to be a complete or comprehensive
guide to the obligations of an employer under occupational
health and safety legislation and should not be interpreted
as such.
Section 16 of the Act places an onus on designers,
manufacturers, importers or suppliers of articles
for use at work to ensure that the article (which
includes appliances, plant and machinery in the definition
given in section 2 of the Act) is designed and constructed
so as to be without risk to health when properly used
at a place of work. In addition, information must
also be provided about the safe use of the article
to any person to whom he or she supplies that article.
This information must relate to the use for which
the article has been designed, manufactured or tested
and must also include information on safe installation,
use, maintenance, cleaning, dismantling or disposal
without risk to safety or health.
In summary, therefore while the 2005 Act does not
specifically refer to Legionella, these organisms
can exist and survive at a workplace and/or be generated
and spread as an aerosol from a workplace or work
activity. As Legionella bacteria are potentially hazardous
to health and are foreseeably present, then an employer
and where applicable, any person who has control to
any extent of the place of work, must assess the risk
of exposure occurring and based on that risk assessment
implement necessary and adequate control measures
to prevent exposure and ensure that workers and others
at the workplace are not adversely affected or that
their health is not at risk.
b) Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Biological
Agents) Regulations, 1994 as amended in 1998 (S.I.
No. 146 of 1994 and S.I. No. 248 of 1998)
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Biological
Agents) Regulations, 1994 as amended in 1998 (S.I.
No. 146 of 1994 and S.I. No. 248 of 1998) refer to
legionellae as outlined in the following section.
Despite the revocation of the Safety, Health and
Welfare at Work Act 1989, the Safety, Health and Welfare
at Work (Biological Agents) Regulations, 1994 (as
amended in 1998) remain in force. Legionella spp.
and L. pneumophila are listed among biological agents
set out in the Fourth Schedule of the regulations
and are categorised as a 'group 2 biological agent',
that is 'one which can cause human disease and might
be a hazard to employees, although it is unlikely
to spread to the community and in respect of which
there is usually effective prophylaxis or treatment
available.'
Regulation 3
Regulation 3 (Appendix E) sets out the duties of
employers to prevent exposure to a biological agent
or, if complete prevention is not possible, to minimise
exposure. Of particular relevance to Legionella control
is Regulation 3 (f), which refers to situations where
the work activity does not involve a deliberate intention
to work with or use a biological agent but may nevertheless
result in employees being exposed to a biological
agent (e.g. cleaning and maintenance work). This would
be the situation pertaining to Legionella in most
situations.
Regulation 4
Regulation 4 (Appendix E) obliges the employer to
carry out a written risk assessment of exposure of
an employee to a biological agent (including Legionella)
and to identify appropriate control measures to be
taken. Information on the risk assessment must be
forwarded to the HSA, should the Authority so request.
Regulation 7
Regulation 7 requires the employer to provide employees
and/or their safety representatives with information
and training regarding the risk posed by a biological
agent. The second schedule of the regulations as seen
below outlines measures to be taken where exposure
to a biological agent cannot be prevented (Regulation
3 (d)).
Second schedule
Measures to be taken where it is not technically
possible to prevent exposure:
1. The keeping as low as possible of the number of
employees exposed or likely to be exposed to a biological
agent.
2. The design of work processes and engineering control
measures so as to avoid or minimise the release of
a biological agent into the place of work.
3. The use of both collective protection measures
and individual protection measures where exposure
cannot be avoided by other means.
4. The use of hygiene measures compatible with the
aim of preventing or reducing the accidental transfer
or release of a biological agent from the workplace.
5. The use of the biohazard sign depicted in the
Third Schedule, and other relevant warning signs.
6. The drawing up of plans to deal with accidents
involving a biological agent.
7. The testing, where it is necessary and technically
possible, for the presence, outside the primary physical
confinement, of a biological agent used at work.
8. The use of means for the safe collection, storage
and disposal of waste by employees, including the
use of secure and identifiable containers, after suitable
treatment where appropriate.
9. The making of arrangements for the safe handling
and transport of a biological agent within the workplace.
In summary, therefore where there is the potential
for Legionella bacteria to be present at the workplace
an employer must take the following actions:
c) Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application)
Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 299 of 2007)
These regulations are a composite set of regulations.
Of relevance to the control of Legionella in the workplace
is Part 2, Chapter 2 of these regulations which covers
the use of work equipment. Under this section of the
regulations, there is a specific requirement for the
employer to ensure that where the safety of work equipment
depends on the installation conditions, that an initial
inspection is carried out after installation is completed
and before it is first put into service (Appendix
F).
Furthermore, there is a requirement that where work
equipment is exposed to conditions causing deterioration
liable to result in a danger to safety or health that
the employer must ensure that periodic inspections
and where appropriate, testing is carried out. The
employer must ensure that special inspections are
carried out when exceptional circumstances arise which
are liable to make work equipment unsafe. This includes
modification work and prolonged inactivity. The employer
must also ensure that deterioration is detected and
remedied in good time. Inspections must be carried
out by a competent person and the results of the inspections
must be recorded and kept for five years. The records
must be available for inspection by a HSA inspector.
The employer must also ensure that employees have
adequate information and where appropriate written
instructions on work equipment. The content of any
information or instruction should address as necessary,
normal conditions of use of the work equipment and
actions to identify and control foreseeable abnormal
situations.
Work equipment is defined under these regulations
as any machinery, appliance, apparatus, tool or installation
for use at work.
d) Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Chemical Agents)
Regulations, 2001 (S.I. No. 619 of 2001)
While not directly related to Legionella, employers
are obliged to consider the requirements of these
regulations to ensure that their workers are not at
risk from exposure to chemicals while at work and/or
performing a work activity in which chemical agents
are being used. In this regard therefore, chemical
agents in the form of biocides and disinfectants,
etc. are used as a means of controlling aspects relating
to the presence of Legionella and for cleaning purposes.
A hazardous substance is something which has the
potential to cause harm. A chemical agent can be considered
hazardous not only because of what it contains e.g.
constituent or chemical ingredient but also because
of the form or way in which it is used at the workplace
i.e. the concentration, how and where it is stored,
if used with other chemicals in a mixture, the temperature
and environment for use, disposal and storage etc.
These regulations place duties on employers, employees
and other users of workplaces. The regulations require
that employers:
(a) Determine which chemical agents are present and
being used at the workplace
(b) Prevent and control exposure to these chemical
agents
(c) Introduce specific protection and prevention
measures to protect workers
(d) Make arrangements to deal with accidents, incidents
and emergencies
(e) Inform, train, consult and supervise workers
in the safe use of chemical agents.
Regulation 4
Regulation 4 outlines the requirements necessary
for employers to perform an adequate risk assessment
regarding any hazardous chemical agent present and
used at the workplace (Appendix G).
In summary, when assessing the risk from exposure
to chemicals it is important to know the chemical
in question, to adopt a step-by-step approach to identifying
all the possible means of exposure, and to understand
the effects that factors such as duration and frequency
of exposure can have on the risk of harm being caused.
Consideration should be given to the availability
of a universal chemical antidote (e.g. the hypertonic,
polyvalent, amphoteric compound Diphoterine) that
can neutralise many hazardous chemicals.
3.2 Infectious Diseases Regulations 1981 (S.I. No.
390 of 1981)
The principal current regulations relating to Legionnaires
disease are contained in the Infectious Diseases Regulations
(S.I. No. 390 of 1981) as amended by the Infectious
Diseases (Amendment) Regulations 1985 (S.I. No. 268
of 1985), Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations
1988 (S.I. No. 288 of 1988) and Infectious Diseases
(Amendment) Regulations 1996 (S.I. No. 384 of 1996)
and Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations (S.I.
No. 707 of 2003). These regulations can be viewed
on the Irish Government website at www.irishstatutebook.ie/statutory.html.
Article 11 of the 1981 regulations state: "on
becoming aware, whether from a notification or intimation
under these regulations or otherwise, of a case or
a suspected case of infectious disease or a probable
source of infection with such disease, a medical officer
of health, or a health officer on the advice of a
medical officer of health shall make such enquiries
and take such steps as are necessary or desirable
for investigating the nature and source of such infection
and for removing conditions favourable to such infection".
Legionnaires disease is a statutorily notifiable
disease in Ireland as defined by the Infectious Disease
Regulations 1981 (S.I. No. 390 of 1981). Under the
Infectious Diseases (Amendment) (No.3) Regulations
2003 (S.I. No. 707 of 2003), which came into effect
on 1 January 2004, laboratory and clinical notification
of Legionnaires disease is mandatory. Cases should
be notified to the MOH in the relevant department
of public health.
Under the Infectious Diseases (Amendment) (No.3)
Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 707 of 2003), it is also
mandatory for a medical practitioner and a clinical
director of a diagnostic laboratory to notify to the
MOH any unusual clusters or changing patterns of any
illness, and individual cases thereof, within the
infectious disease hospital or infectious disease
unit, that may be of public health concern. The MOH
in turn must notify HPSC.
3.2.1 Legionella-specific legislation
