LEGIONELLA - World Health Organization

7.2 Water safety plan overview
WSPs are increasingly being recommended and implemented in hotels, because testing for
Legionella in hotel water systems has limited ability to prevent infections. This chapter should
be read in conjunction with Chapters 4–6 and Chapter 8, which cover most of the system
components found on ships and in hotels.
Developing a WSP for dealing with Legionella in hotels and ships involves the following steps:
The remainder of this chapter provides information relevant to a WSP specific for hotels and
ships, for each of the three main areas of a WSP:
• system assessment (Section 7.3)
• monitoring (Section 7.4)
• surveillance (Section 7.5).
Sections 7.3–7.5 should be read in conjunction with Section 3.3 from Chapter 3.
7.3 System assessment
This section should be read in conjunction with Section 3.3.1 of Chapter 3. The steps involved
in system assessment, some of which are discussed further below, are to:
• assemble a team to prepare the WSP
• document and describe the system (Section 7.3.1)
• assess hazards and prioritize risks (Section 7.3.2)
• assess the system.
7.3.1 Document and describe the system
In addition to piped water distribution systems, Legionella has been isolated from many sources
in hotels and ships (see Box 7.1). All these sources need to be investigated, documented and
described in the system assessment as potential reservoirs of legionellae.
LEGIONELLA AND THE PREVENTION OF LEGIONELLOSIS 0