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.
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
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
Read our article about the training.
Attention healthcare facilities!
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.
- Create a water management program team
- Describe the building water systems using text and flow diagrams
- Identify areas where Legionella could grow and spread
- Decide where control measures should be applied and how to monitor them
- Establish ways to intervene when control limits are not met
- Make sure the program is running as designed and is effective (verification and validation)
- 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
-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