Healthy Indoors Magazine
Issue link: https://hi.healthyindoors.com/i/971754
Healthy Indoors | 23 Two facilities with the same WMP content can have quite different outcomes if one executes their WMP better than the other. 5. Smart Documentation Documentation provides evidence of what you did and when. It also leads to more consistent performance of the control measure. You can document in various ways—inspection logs, vendor reports, and work order software, for example. The most practical way will vary with control measures. Be sure to have a hub—one location that shows how and where the control measure is documented. 6. Smart Validation Validation procedures measure the effectiveness of a WMP in accomplishing its main objective, i.e., to reduce the hazard (e.g., Legionella). Although disinfectant levels, temperatures, and other tests can provide valuable information for water manage- ment, properly conducted and interpreted Legionella tests of a water system are the best indicator of Legionella control in that system. For Legionella tests to provide good validation of a WMP, be sure to meet these six criteria: • Collect the optimum number of samples. Too many samples results in overspending; too few provide data insufficient for decision making—a total waste. • Plan samples strategically - hot versus cold water, pre- versus post-flush, the right locations. • Collect samples properly. It is easy to fill a bottle with water but the details are crucial. • Record data to maximize useful information. • Use a proven laboratory. Don't skimp here. Use the best you can find. At a minimum, ensure the lab has any re- quired and recommended certifications for Legionella testing. • Interpret results from multiple angles, not just one. If you interpret results based on a simple grid of Legionella concentrations or positivity (percentage of plumbing system samples in which Legionella is found)—a common mistake—you could miss opportu- nities to prevent disease, overspend on remediation, harm the environment unnecessarily, or all the above. 7. Smart Remediation Too many facilities and consultants take an all or nothing approach to plumbing system (domestic water) remedia- tion, responding to Legionella test results by either doing nothing or disinfecting the entire system. Rarely is either • Are all applicable measures included for each water system type? Many WMPs omit procedures that cost little or nothing but are crucial to reducing risk, simply because the facility or the company they hire to provide their WMP is unaware of them. • Are your measures specific? Vague policies like "re- duce stagnation" or "avoid dead-legs" are ineffective. Each control measure should be written such that a maintenance person could go do it (e.g., "Open the valve on the North Tower backflow preventer bypass for 30 seconds once a month"). • Are your measures evidence-based? Doing what is un- necessary or ineffective wastes time and money, and sometimes water, energy, and chemicals as well. 3. Smart Training Your personnel must know how to perform the control measures well; their also knowing why is even be er. Find the combina on of training that works best for the facility. Classroom training has benefits of focused a en- on on the subject but is costly and me consuming for the material covered. Walk-through training is effec ve but restricted to a small number of people and limited content. Online courses require some self-discipline but are a low-cost way to present a lot of content in a rela- vely short period of me, on each student's schedule. Training built into a WMP (e.g., within each control mea- sure) is especially effec ve because it provides the mate- rial needed at exactly the right me, to the right people. 4. Smart Execution How you manage the development and implementation of your WMP will affect your cost and risk. Facilities that execute well seem to have certain habits in common, one of which is striking the right balance between in-house personnel and outside services. Facility personnel that attempt to write a WMP on their own from scratch could, like so many others, fool themselves into thinking they are saving money only to find they wasted countless hours on a WMP that is vague, incomplete, and indefensible. Most make the opposite mistake—attempting to rely en- tirely on a vendor to develop and implement their WMP. That does not work, in part because many control measures will be performed better and much less expensively by the in- house maintenance personnel. To adequately reduce risk and control costs, facilities need to involve both in-house personnel and vendors.