Running a business is obviously no mean feat. Juggling everything from marketing to employment law compliance can feel like such a Herculean task at times that some things inevitably end up getting left behind.

While perhaps inevitable, working out what parts end up being relegated to a less important spot in the hierarchy deserves careful attention, and safety issues such as water hygiene must always remain near the top.

If you feel like you’re struggling to tackle your water hygiene responsibilities as seriously as they deserve, then you’re in the right place - read on for some insights into key tactics you need to adopt.

Implement a plan

At the heart of all approaches to water hygiene should be a water safety plan. Loosely defined by the World Health Organisation as a document that details your approach to water hygiene, this will be the main place that ties your overall strategy together.

Your water safety plan will include the assignment of responsibility to certain individuals in your organisation, including titles such as a Responsible Person and a Deputy Responsible Person. It will also include certain details surrounding your approach to water testing and risk assessment.

Commit to regular testing

Another tactic you need to implement is a commitment to regular water system testing. Some of this can be effectively automated, such as through the installation of temperature and flow sensors. These will help to ensure that certain conditions aren’t present that might lead to rapid bacterial growth, as warm stagnant water sources are prone to do. 

You will also likely need to have more in-depth water risk assessments carried out by water hygiene specialists. The reports they produce will provide detailed analyses of your existing water systems, going over potentially dangerous areas that deserve attention more or less urgently. 

Employee training

It doesn’t matter how sophisticated the systems and tools you implement are: when it comes to safety issues, your focus also needs to be on training the people responsible for operating those systems. There are a lot of different kinds of water safety training courses available, and it can be useful to use a few different ones. These range from general courses aimed at janitorial staff with a low level of responsibility, all the way up to in-depth water safety training aimed at officially designated Responsible Persons. 

Constant reevaluation

Lastly, it’s crucial to note that you won’t ever perfect your approach to water hygiene once and for all - it will be something that constantly needs to be worked on. You need to come back to your strategy, reassessing whether or not it's working as intended. 

This will often mean working with external teams, so that you can get an outside perspective on what you’re doing. Not only do you stand to make substantial increases in safety, but you could also end up saving money through upgrading to more efficient solutions.

The tactics listed above may be relatively general at times, but this is also their strength - they can be adapted to suit pretty much any business you can think of. By constantly working to optimise your approach to water hygiene, you can help to ensure that you never miss the mark when it comes to safety.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.