There’s lots of water hygiene companies out there, so it can be incredibly hard to choose the one that’s right for you.
While many will promise the world, not everyone will deliver. That’s why our experts have put together this list of 6 key questions you need to ask both your current water hygiene company, and any prospective companies you may be talking to.
Let’s get started!
We’re starting off with one you probably shouldn’t ask a water hygiene company (the answer will always be yes, trust us).
This is something that you need to ask yourself, and it’s a pretty simple flow chart:
If you have enough people who are deemed as competent to work on your water systems in-house, then use their expertise (although we do recommend partnering with a water hygiene company for advice and training!).
If you don’t have someone who can do this work for you, then contacting the professionals is absolutely necessary – get water hygiene compliance wrong and people can get sick and you may be fined for noncompliance, so best to err on the side of caution!
At the end of the day, even when you’re getting a third-party in to handle your water hygiene, compliance is still solely your responsibility, so it’s crucial that the company you’re trusting to carry out any work knows exactly what they’re doing.
Any legionella risk assessments should be carried out as per the recommendations from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), adhering closely to the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP L8) and the detailed guidance document HSG274.
In addition to this, there’s the British Standard BS 8580-1:2019, which gives a superb benchmark on exactly how any risk assessments should be carried out.
However, the industry standard is anyone “deemed a competent person”, which we believe is too open for interpretation!
There are no minimum standards for water hygiene engineers, however, at H2O, we have a minimum training standard which covers:
Don’t forget to ask a prospective water hygiene company exactly how they adhere to all of the listed recommendations, and what they’ll do to go above and beyond for your organisation – just because all you need is a “competent” person, doesn’t mean that’s enough to keep your water safe.
While they may have qualifications up to the eyeballs, this doesn’t mean that their engineers have experience working on a project with the same unique needs as yours.
No two water systems are the same, so it takes a bespoke approach to each and every project to get it absolutely spot on.
Ask to see case studies, hear about results and talk about how their learnings from others’ projects can be applied to yours.
Any good water hygiene company will be able to fully answer all of your questions and provide clear, concise examples of work they’ve completed in the past.
Education is incredibly important when looking to prevent Legionnaires’ disease and to ensure your water is safe and fit for purpose.
There are many small remedial jobs and diagnostic tasks that you can do yourself that will help to identify when something may be wrong.
Training should include:
There’s no reason that you should pay extortionate amounts for small tasks such as the above, and a good water hygiene company will understand this and offer training for you and your team.
Most water hygiene companies are good at hygiene, so they stick to that, and that’s fine. However, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t enjoy end-to-end water and air hygiene, with expert remedial work, risk assessments, training and consultancy all in the mix too!
By choosing a water hygiene company that does it all, you’re proactively cutting costs, as you’ll have a one-stop-shop for all of your water hygiene needs.
At the end of the day, you need to know how much this work is going to set you back.
If a prospective company is unwilling to talk about money, that’s a big red flag. You should look for a water hygiene company who are open and honest about what their services cost.
Even if they can’t give you an exact figure until they’ve conducted a full risk assessment or site survey, they should be able to openly talk about the topic, and may even be able to give you a ballpark figure, so don’t be afraid to ask the question!
As with many services, prices can vary quite a bit depending on the age, complexity and size of a system, so make sure to ask for justification on costs, too!
Honesty, integrity and expertise – three things our family at H2O Hygiene embody every single day!
We created this list in order to help you make the right decision for your unique needs. No two water systems are the same; it’s essential that you’re armed with all the right questions to ask when looking for a new water hygiene company.
Looking for specialist water hygiene services, or perhaps you’ve got a burning question you need answering? Get in touch with our friendly experts today. We’re on hand to talk you through everything you need to know about water hygiene (feel free to try out the above questions on us, too!).
