Water Management Plan and Water Safety Plans are the best tool for building owners and operators to use against Legionella bacteria and Legionnaires’ Disease. Infection control personnel and Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) professionals must understand how to incorporate water safety into their facility’s risk management processes.
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) developed a standard, 188-2021 – Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems. This voluntary standard outlines the requirements for developing WMP’s, how risk assessments are performed, along with healthcare-specific requirements.
In layman’s terms, a Water Management Plan is a comprehensive living document describing proactive maintenance activities, the unique risks associated with each building, and the corrective actions required if parameters are found out of specification. This plan can be as comprehensive or as simple as necessary, providing it has all the elements of ASHRAE 188-2021 incorporated into it. This plan also serves as the location to keep all water safety-specific documentation and maintenance activities performed, to serve as a legal document proving compliance. Litigation for Legionnaire’s disease can be a huge risk if the defendant can prove the negligence of the building owner, property manager, or other parties involved in water safety. A valid Water Management Plan could be your best defense.
Water Safety and Management Plans have many elements required by ASHRAE 188-2021. Those elements include:
ASHRAE 188-2021 states,
“The Program Team shall include one or more individuals selected from the following: the building owner or designee, employees, suppliers, consultants, or other individuals that the building owner has delegated to have authority and responsibility for the actions required…”
There are many roles to choose from to have on your Program Team. ChemREADY recommends at a minimum you have the following personnel:
Other professionals you could choose to add to your Program Team include:
ASHRAE 188-2021 defines the following building characteristics as applicable to needing a Water Management Plan:
Systems include:
If your facility falls under the following, you should look into creating a Water Management Plan, if you don’t already have one:
Your building’s Water Safety and Management Plan should be defensible, easy, and smart. That’s why ChemREADY partners with HC Info, in providing LAMPS; Legionella Assessment and Management Plan Support. LAMPS has built-in audit functionality, the ability to easily update and modify your existing plan, and a cloud-based solution for all of your documentation.
If your Water Safety and Management Plan isn’t on the LAMPS platform, contact ChemREADY to discuss the benefits it will give your Program Team, today.
