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Controlling legionella bacteria – new EI guidelines

In response to the recent outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Edinburgh, the Energy Institute (EI) has released new guidance for the oil and gas industry.  
The Energy Institute’s occupational health and hygiene committee has updated its existing technical guidance, and is working on a second publication specific to cooling tower maintenance, both of which are now available to pre-order. This technical advice covers the guidelines set out by the Health and Safety Executive.
Committee chair, Lynne Morgan FEI, said:  “The problem for the industry is that water systems can become heavily contaminated with potentially lethal bacteria. The committee’s responsibility is to advise industry on appropriate workplace, health protection issues and, where possible, provide relevant technical guidance and control measures. Further to this publication, additional guidance will follow to specifically address maintenance of cooling towers for the control of Legionella.”
The second publication, entitled Cooling tower maintenance and other controls for the effective management of Legionella risk, will be available later in the year.
Orders can be made online at www.energypublishing.org
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