Hazardous Substances - COSHH Regulations - Legionnaires Disease

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002 Notification of Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers Regulations 1992

Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers

If you have a cooling tower or evaporative condenser on site you must, under the Notification of Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers Regulations 1992 , notify the local authority in writing with details of where it is located. You must also tell them when/if such devices are no longer in use. Notification forms are available from your local environmental health department.

Under the provisions of the Notification of Cooling Towers and Evaporative Condensers Regulations 1992 which came into force on 2nd November 1992 it is the duty of each person who has, to any extent, control of premises to ensure that no “notifiable device” is situated on those premises unless the information set out in the Schedule to these Regulations has been notified in writing to the local authority in whose area the premises are situated.

The prime purpose of this is to identify potential areas that could give rise to spread of infectious disease e.g. legionella (the bacteria that causes legionnaires disease) and to ensure preventative measures are taken to eliminate the risk of such infection arising to employees and the public.

A “notifiable device" means a cooling tower or an evaporative condenser except;

(a) where it contains no water that is exposed to air; and
(b) where its water supply is not connected; and
(c) where its electrical supply is not connected;

"premises" means all non-domestic premises used for or in connection with the carrying on of a trade, business or other undertaking (whether for profit or not).

In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires;

"cooling tower" means a device whose main purpose is to cool water by direct contact between that water and a stream of air;

"evaporative condenser" means a device whose main purpose is to cool a fluid by passing that fluid through a heat exchanger which is itself cooled by contact with water passing through a stream of air;

"heat exchanger" means a device for transferring heat between fluids which are not in direct contact with one another.

Information to be notified to the local authority is:

1. The address of the premises where the notifiable device is to be situated.
2. The name, address and telephone number of a person who has, to any extent, control of the premises referred to in paragraph 1 above.
3. The number of notifiable devices at the premises referred to in paragraph 1 above.
4. The location on the premises of each notifiable device referred to in paragraph 3 above

Contact us to help you conduct a full risk assessment of your premises

Additional Reading:

Hazardous Substances
Hazard Symbols
Legionnaires Disease
Cooling Towers & Evaporising Condensers
Private Water Supplies

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Quick Guides are not intended to be a full statement of the Law.
For a definition of "Employee" and "Employer"
Contains public sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive under the Open Government Licence