Legionella policy

At Magna, we are totally committed to ensuring the safety of our customers, colleagues and others who work with us. Our approach to managing the risk of legionella is central to this commitment.

The purpose of this policy is to set out the principles that shape our legionella safety standards and procedures, ensuring that we meet, as a minimum, all legal and regulatory requirements in the way we design, construct, manage, service and maintain our homes.

Scope of this Policy

This policy applies to:

• All homes, estates, communal buildings and offices owned and managed by Magna Housing;

• All colleagues and those employed by Magna in the design, construction, management and maintenance of our homes;

• All managing agents or lessees who manage or maintain homes and estates on our behalf.

The policy specifically covers:

• Arrangements for risk assessing properties and communal areas, undertaking legionella risk assessments of properties and communal water systems and necessary repairs, improvements or maintenance arising from assessments;

• Arrangements for undertaking and recording a water safety risk assessment when a property becomes empty and necessary repairs carried out whilst the property is empty and before it is relet;

• Arrangements for undertaking monthly temperature monitoring and safety checks of water systems in properties with communal supplies and any necessary repairs or maintenance required;

• The design, construction and maintenance of our homes;

• Communication with customers on legionella prevention measures and awareness.

Policy Statement

The safety of our customers, colleagues and contractors is at the heart of what we do at Magna. We are committed to ensuring that our arrangements to deliver the comprehensive range of legionella management activities described in the scope consistently meet legal and regulatory requirements and achieve our Regulator’s Consumer Standard, as an absolute minimum. Where appropriate we will strive to achieve what is considered to be industry best practice.

In delivering this policy objective we are committed to ensuring that all those involved in managing legionella safety at Magna demonstrate the appropriate competency levels and, where necessary, third-party accreditation. Contractors appointed by us to undertake safety checks and regular monitoring of communal water systems and associated appliances will be registered with the Legionella Control Association and subscribe to their code of conduct. Contractors should be able to demonstrate competency in all associated health and safety disciplines.

We are committed to building in a “golden thread” of quality from a legionella safety perspective through the early stages of design, through the construction phase into management and maintenance of our homes.

We will consult with customers on legionella related activities, inform them about the outcome of assessments, ensure awareness, provide advice and listen and respond to any safety related concerns.

The safety of our customers is paramount. We will ensure that resources and funding required to deliver legionella safety related works are prioritised, taking into account a risk-based approach to the urgency of the work.

As a core safety service, we will ensure that performance on legionella activity is regularly scrutinised to ensure continuous improvement and to ensure that any lessons are embedded.

Our Legionella Safety Standard and Procedure

We want to make sure that we are really clear about the standards we are working to when it comes to legionella management. We have developed a Legionella Safety Standard, which defines what we will do to promote legionella safety. The standard explains who is responsible for delivering the service and details how frequently we expect to carry out specific activities in customers’ homes, in common areas and on estates.

The standard is supported by a clear procedure and instructions to ensure that the services are delivered consistently by our internal teams and by specialist contractors. The standard and procedure are kept under constant review to ensure they are fit for purpose in a fast-changing environment.

Responsibilities for Legionella Safety Management

The Director of Customer Operations is the accountable person in relation to all aspects of legionella management at Magna and is responsible for the development and review of the Legionella Safety Policy and Legionella Safety Standard, ensuring that these meet all regulatory requirements and guidance.

The Head of Building Safety and Compliance is responsible for operational delivery of legionella management activities, for maintaining accurate legionella related property data and is responsible for reporting on legionella management in line with governance arrangements. The Head of Building Safety and Compliance is responsible for ensuring that customers are effectively consulted on all aspects of legionella safety in their homes and estates.

All colleagues have a responsibility for ensuring that the work they undertake in delivering our policies and standards is fit for purpose.

Governance, Performance Management and Review

This policy, its associated standard and operational procedure will be monitored and reviewed by the Director of Customer Operations annually. The policy will be considered and approved annually by Board.

A range of performance measures and indicators, relating directly to the Legionella Safety Standard, are reported to managers and directors as appropriate. High level performance indicators are reported to Board on a regular basis in line with their approved balanced scorecard.

Our performance on legionella, including lessons learned from incidents will form part of the quarterly report to the Health and Safety Forum and will be included in the annual report to Board on corporate health and safety.