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Legionnaire's disease Sjoechem via Flickr / Creative Commons
Legionella
HSE to investigate services after inaccurate Legionella tests
Healthy Buildings International issued certificates for Legionella testing at a Co Antrim leisure centre that were found to be inaccurate – the HSE has used the company’s services and has launched an investigation.
6.16pm, 23 Feb 2012
2.5k
THE HEALTH SERVICE Executive is to investigate the service supplied by a company that issued inaccurate laboratory certificates on Legionella testing to a Co Antrim gym.
Healthy Buildings International (HBI) is contracted locally by some HSE facilities to carry out Legionella risk management programmes.
The HSE told TheJournal.ie that it is aware that the Health and Safety Executive in Northern Ireland has initiated an investigation into the service this company provided to the Valley Leisure Centre in Newtownabbey in Northern Ireland, and is monitoring the situation.
The HSE has been in contact with HBI and have asked them to address our concerns. We are also reviewing services and test reports currently provided by HBI.
HBI said that it has “recently been made aware of an incident regarding a small number of laboratory certificates issued to a customer in July 2011″.
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It said the certificates were not accurate but subsequent tests have confirmed that there were no health issues for either the public or employees of this customer.
The company has since undertaken a full audit of all samples and laboratory reports for each of its clients, which has revealed that this was strictly an isolated incident.
An anonymous letter was sent to Newtownabbey Borough Council claiming the reports were inaccurate, which sparked an investigation.
HBI said it is taking this incident extremely seriously.
As well as cooperating fully with a Health and Safety Executive investigation, the company is currently seeking legal advice in relation to the employee involved.
The company said it is “confident that there will be no further issues arising from this and that its clients will continue to benefit from the high level of reliability and professionalism to which they have been accustomed”.
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