intention is to increase IAQA Government Affairs involvement in general on this subject, but get
some specific questions answered, such as:
o Who is a Qualified Person that is competent to collect samples?
o Are cleaning and sampling mandatory every 90 days?
o Is disinfection mandatory?
OTHER LEGIONELLA OUTBREAKS
o As Reported in Becker's Infection Control, an outbreak of Legionella in a
Veteran's Home in Illinois sickened 39 and killed seven
4
.
o In August's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly, the Centers for Disease Control
reported Legionella was responsible for 21 outbreaks, and a total of 14 deaths
5
.
[Wei Tang, Vice-Chair of IAQA Government Affairs, is Coordinator for Legionella in New York,
and contributed this report]
NEW YORK STATE MOLD LICENSING UPDATE
During the week of September 14, IAQA Government Affairs spoke with two key personnel at
the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) regarding the ongoing implementation of
licensing for mold remediation and assessment. As noted in the Update last month, the priority
for NYSDOL is to get applications from training providers for approval to teach mold in New
York State. With a deadline of 1/1/2016 for all remediation and assessment practitioners in
New York to be licensed, taking the big step of getting training providers actually teaching
classes and giving certification exams is becoming urgent.
IAQA has been volunteering our collective expertise and grassroots effort during the NYSDOL
implementation process. The goal is to have a constantly clear channel of communication to
decision makers whose regulatory choices directly affect our members. It is also the goal of the
Government Affairs Committee to learn of developments as early as possible, and
communicate that to affected membership immediately. Thus far, this approach with NYSDOL
has been productive.
IAQA Government Affairs Committee has volunteered our effort to get the word out to the
training provider community and to encourage them to apply for approval in New York as soon
as possible. If you know a training provider that may be interested, mold training provider
application forms can be found at
4
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/legionnaires-disease-kills-7-in-illinois-veterans-home.html
5
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6431a2.htm#Tab2
