Legionella Training

Page Summary

  • Involved in building water safety? Take our training on creating a water management program to reduce risk for Legionnaires' disease (LD).
  • The training aligns with industry standards (ASHRAE 188) on managing risk for Legionella bacteria.
  • It also helps healthcare facilities meet requirements from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on water management policies and procedures.

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Course length: 3 hours

At a glance

  • Involved in building water safety? Take our training on creating a water management program to reduce risk for Legionnaires' disease (LD).
  • The training aligns with industry standards (ASHRAE 188) on managing risk for Legionella bacteria.
  • It also helps healthcare facilities meet requirements from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on water management policies and procedures.
Course length: 3 hours
Date updated:

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Training overview

This training addresses how to manage

  • Building water systems in hospitals, retirement homes and long-term care facilities, hotels, high-rise apartment complexes, and other buildings
  • Other devices that may need a water management program even if the building does not, such as cooling towers, decorative fountains and water features, hot tubs, and misters

Benefits

Graphic showing instructor looking at information on a screen.
Find templates and other tools in our training.

PreventLD Training has several benefits, including the following:

  • Outlines how to reduce risk for Legionella in facilities through water management programs
  • Helps water management programs align with ASHRAE 188 on reducing risk for Legionella in building water systems (e.g., potable water, cooling towers, hot tubs, decorative water features)
  • Is free and available online, and continuing education units are available from the National Environmental Health Association
  • Helps build common language across the range of professionals involved in water management programs
  • Includes case studies, templates, and other practical resources to reduce the risk for Legionella and protect those at increased risk of Legionnaires' disease: adults aged 50 years or older, current or former smokers, and those with a weakened immune system or chronic disease

Attention healthcare facilities!‎

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) now requires healthcare facilities to have water management policies and procedures to reduce the risk of Legionella and other pathogens in building water systems.

Training topics

PreventLD Training addresses the 7 steps of a Legionella water management program. These steps are outlined in CDC's Water management program toolkit. The steps operationalize the ASHRAE 188 standard for minimizing the risk of Legionnaires' disease.

  1. Create a water management program team
  2. Describe the building water systems using text and flow diagrams
  3. Identify areas where Legionella could grow and spread
  4. Decide where control measures should be applied and how to monitor them
  5. Establish ways to intervene when control limits are not met
  6. Make sure the program is running as designed and is effective (verification and validation)
  7. Document and communicate all the activities of your water management program

The training also includes

  • Templates
  • Case studies in a healthcare facility and manufacturing facility
  • Resources for creating water management program action plans

Who this training is for

CDC and partners designed this training for the range of professionals involved in water management programs. This typically includes

  • Public health professionals, including infection preventionists
  • Building managers, maintenance/engineering staff, and safety officers
  • Equipment and water treatment suppliers as well as consultants

What are people saying?‎

"...[E]asy to follow for someone new to the field, and also provided enough detail for individuals already involved in Legionella prevention. The comprehensive training guided me from basic understanding of the disease, to development of a water management program. This training set the bar in educational material on the topic of Legionnaires' disease."
-Robert Cole, REHS, Southern Nevada Health District



"This course is great for individuals who advise or oversee any environmental health programs that deal with a building or water system."
-TRAIN user

Partners

PreventLD Training was created by the following groups:

  • CDC's National Center for Environmental Health
  • CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases
  • The National Network of Public Health Institutes
  • The University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health
  • The Western Region Training Center at the University of Arizona

Course credit‎

Continuing education units are available from the National Environmental Health Association.

Training resources

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Content Source:
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases; National Center for Environmental Health