Water Safety Audit

The audit process draws on the management requirements of the HSE's ACoP (L8) and HTM 04-01 & HTM 03-01 (where appropriate). What are the benefits of a Water Safety Audit, and why should I have one?

" … the Code [Approved Code of Practice and guidance L8] has a special legal status. If you are prosecuted for breach of health and safety law, and it is proved that you did not follow the relevant provisions of the Code, you will need to show that you have complied with the law in some other way or a Court will find you at fault.”

A water safety audit is crucial to the development or refinement of any good risk management system and the control of Legionella. The water safety audit process draws on the management requirements of the HSE's ACoP (L8) including for Legionellosis risk assessment and HTM 04-01 & HTM 03-01 (where appropriate), and mirrors the practice of the ISO.9001 standard.

Audits are typically used initially and then on an annual basis to confirm levels of water hygiene compliance and improvement.  Our water hygiene audit will examine and verify the management systems you currently have in place and cover issues including:

• Appointment of Responsible Persons' and associated staff
• Roles, responsibilities, and lines of communication
• Risk assessment and re-assessment of compliance
• Review of policy and procedures document(s) including records
• Implementation of remedial works
• Evidence of monitoring and performance of systems
• Staff training

The resulting report will provide top-level recommendations with budget cost estimates, in the form of an action plan.  This action plan in turn provides evidence internally (and potentially to visiting HSE Inspectors) that the organisation is aware of its status with respect to Legionella/water hygiene and has a risk-based programme to ensure any necessary improvements are taken forward.

A Water Safety Audit is an inexpensive exercise, representing excellent value for money.