Over the past year, the release of
several new standards, guidance
documents, and regulations repre-
sent a changing standard of care for
how we deal with Legionella in man-
made water systems. This will eventually force
building owners and environmental profession-
als to alter how they manage their buildings and
water systems and address Legionella ampli-
fication and outbreaks of associated disease.
Coincidentally, several highly publicized out-
breaks of Legionnaires' disease have driven the
passage of emergency rules and health regula-
tions in one state and may eventually cost one
Governor his office. A look back over the past
year reveals an amazing amount of activity.
The Year in Review…
In the summer of 2015 two important industry
publications were released: the ANSI/ASHRAE
Standard 188-2015 Legionellosis: Risk Man-
agement for Building Water Systems and the
AIHA Guidance on the Recognition, Evaluation,
and Control of Legionella in Building Water
Systems. The first of these documents from
ASHRAE mandates that practically all buildings
establish a monitoring program for conditions
that allow the colonization, amplification, and
spread of Legionella. The second document
from AIHA provides the framework for "com-
petent professionals" to validate the effective-
ness of control measures at preventing the
growth of Legionella, thus preventing sources
of exposure before they occur. Both of these
publications were developed outside of govern-
ment agencies by industry professionals in an
attempt to stem the ever increasing rates of
Legionnaires' disease and the associated loss
of lives and disruption of business. While they
focus on a relatively new concept, "preven-
tion of disease by active source control," both
publications include guidance on what building
owners and environmental professionals should
do when they discover a possible source of
Healthy Indoors 21
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