/Key Points:
– The BOHS Legionella Conference 2026 will be held in Manchester on November 24.
– The event aims to address ongoing challenges in controlling Legionella and preventing Legionnaires’ disease.
– Experts from various sectors will discuss practical strategies for effective Legionella management.
– The conference will emphasize the importance of understanding the interconnected nature of workplace hazards.
– BOHS CEO Kevin Bampton highlights the need for continued learning and adaptation in the face of changing environmental factors.
Experts Gather to Tackle Challenges in Legionella Control at BOHS Conference
2026 marks half a century since the outbreak that led to the identification of Legionella and fundamentally changed the understanding of Legionnaires’ disease. In response to ongoing challenges in managing this public health threat, the British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS) is organizing the Legionella Conference 2026 in Manchester on November 24. This conference will bring together experts to discuss critical strategies for anticipating, designing out, and controlling Legionella risks throughout the life cycle of water systems.
Since the significant outbreak in 1976, advancements in scientific understanding of Legionella and the conditions conducive to its growth have progressed markedly. However, Legionnaires’ disease remains a preventable and foreseeable risk. The complexities of modern water systems create ongoing challenges for effective management practices.
As the Chartered Society for Worker Health Protection, BOHS integrates an occupational hygiene perspective into the conversation, emphasizing the recognition of hazards, understanding exposure, and preventing harm before it occurs.
The conference will feature specialists from various sectors, including water safety, occupational hygiene, and industry, who will address the practical obstacles associated with effective Legionella prevention and control. Confirmed speakers include:
– Tom Laffey, ISHEM – Solving One Hazard, Creating Another: Legionella Risks from Wet Stone Cutting and Beyond
– Peter Priday, Compass Group – Trials and Tribulations of a Responsible Person
– Jim Perry, Water Hygiene Centre – Why Water Safety Design Reviews Are Critical
– Anthony Matthews, Legionella Control Association – The Legionella Control Association
The conference program will consider Legionella risks from multiple stages in the life cycle of water systems, focusing on design, operation, and the practical realities encountered by those responsible for managing risk. Notably, a session on wet stone cutting will explore the interconnected nature of occupational health risks, illustrating how interventions designed to mitigate one hazard can inadvertently introduce others if health risks are not viewed within a comprehensive framework.
BOHS CEO, Professor Kevin Bampton, remarked on the significance of continued learning: “Fifty years on from the outbreak that first brought Legionnaires’ disease to global attention, there is still much to learn about the fascinating and deadly organism that causes it. Moreover, in the face of climate change and different ways of using and conserving both water and energy, we are likely to see increasingly new and novel causes of outbreaks. At the root of controlling this disease is better understanding and knowledge, and this is why a conference that brings together practitioners, academics, and regulators is even more relevant and important today as it was 50 years ago.”
For further information and to secure a place, interested parties can visit the BOHS Legionella Conference 2026 website.
