NSW Cooling Tower Audits, What paperwork you need to provide to the auditor.

NSW Cooling Tower Audits

The first NSW Cooling Tower Audits are starting to fall now over the next few months. This means that from as early as 11th August 2019 to 1st of December 2019 ( or a date notified by Local Council as above) your facilities cooling Towers must have an audit within 2 months of the 12-month ‘anniversary’ period.

Under the regulations the following Forms but be supplied for the audit:

Form 1 – is your Risk Management Plan,  Regulation 13N (1) states that the RMP must be documented in the approved form.

Form 2 – is the audit Form and must be used  Regulation 13O (6).

Form 3 – is your monthly service and inspection report and includes chemical analysis and microbial results.  And must be used Regulation 13Q (4) (c)

Form 4 – if you have a notifiable result you must notify your local council. Regulation 13R (1)

‘Occupiers must notify the local government authority within 24 hours of receiving a reportable test result of Legionella count ≥1,000 colony forming units per millilitre (cfu/mL) or HCC ≥5,000,000 cfu/mL.’

For NSW Cooling Tower Audits to be completed you will require:

1 x Form 1 – You should have a copy, that hopefully has been sent back by the local council that acknowledges they received the Form 1 within 7 days.

12 x Form 3 – your water treatment service provider should have provided a Form 3 for each month.

Form 4 – if you had any high Legionella or HCC counts and you notified Local Council. A copy for each and every notification.  And hopefully, the Local Council has sent back a copy with /or an acknowledgement of receiving the notification.

Any records for the following:

– Records of actions required to be completed by the RMP during this audit period (for example, removal of a dead leg or replacement of a drift eliminator)

– Records of enforcement action taken by a local government authority or NSW Health (for example, improvement notices and prohibition orders)

– Records of additional actions taken in order to comply with the RMP, authorised officer requirements, or for any other reason

Once the audit is completed the Local Council must be notified within 7 days of upon the ‘occupier’ being notified the audit result using Form 2.

‘Occupiers are ultimately responsible for ensuring that cooling water systems on their premises are managed (installed, operated and maintained) in accordance with the Act and Regulation.’

If you would like to read more about the 5 key risks a Cooling Tower Risk Management Plan should address click here.

To read about the 7 Key steps in the audit process click here.