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Poorly managed Legionella risks can result in hotels paying damages

Posted: 29th January 2016

In March 2011 Scottish Health officials confirmed that they have found legionella bacteria in a hotel’s leisure club. Over 103 guests and staff have been affected and experienced flu-like symptoms, out of which 18 people were confirmed as having contracted Pontiac fever, a flu like condition caused by Legionella.

Legionella bacteria grew in the hotel’s leisure club as a result of poor safety checks and a failure of a chlorine injector in the spa pool. This caused chlorine levels in the pool to fall to dangerous levels and allowed bacteria to grow.

This month the hotel operator has been found guilty of exposing guests and staff to legionella bacteria and fined a considerable amount.

Could this be avoided? There is no doubt that regular checking for Legionella in the hotel would have picked up the problem earlier prompting timely action. Given the serious threat to guests and staff from legionella it would have been in their interest to do so and made financial sense.

The Hydrosense Legionella test, which is manufactured by Albagaia ltd, is the fastest test on the market – providing results in 25minutes. No need to wait 10-14 days for lab test results, while continuously exposing people to risk at this time. Also, the test provides a result on-site in real time, which instantly shows the managers how effective is the treatment they carry out.

The newly deployed Hydrosense Legionella test reader and connected data portal ensure that everyone who needs to know is sent an alert, ensuring that information is available where it is needed, but also that decisions can also be made in real time.

Hydrosense tests are already being used all over the world. Customers believe that the innovative technology used in the tests along with the app and portal make the Hydrosense Legionella testing one of the most complete in the world today, enabling Real Time management of Legionella risk for the first time.

Business Comment

Business Comment is the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce’s bi-monthly magazine. It provides insight on Edinburgh’s vibrant business community, with features on the city’s key sectors, interviews with leading figures and news on new business developments in the capital.
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