EUSR National Water Hygiene - 'Blue Card'

Awarded by EUSR (Energy & Utility Skills Register).

This EUSR National Water Hygiene course plays a vital part in ensuring the protection of public health and promoting good water hygiene practices. The scheme has been developed in collaboration with all UK water companies.

These water companies require candidates entering clean water sites or working on the clean water network – known as ‘Restricted Operations’, to hold a registration by sitting an EUSR National Water Hygiene course.

‘Restricted Operations’ includes working on service reservoirs, water pumping stations, water treatment works, wells, springs, boreholes as well as working on the network of water mains and service pipes.

It’s not just water company employees.  If a candidate is working on a ‘Restricted Operation’ on behalf of a water company subcontractor or other organisation, such as Self-Lay Organisation (SLOs) – then they need a National Water Hygiene registration achieved by sitting the EUSR National Water Hygiene course.

Once the candidate has successfully completed their EUSR National Water Hygiene course and assessment, they will understand the vital part they play in maintaining clean and safe drinking water and protecting public health.

Milo Purcell, Deputy Chief Inspector of the Drinking Water Inspectorate says,

“It is important for anyone working in contact with the water supply, to learn and fully understand their responsibilities to protecting public health and public confidence in drinking water quality. The Drinking Water Inspectorate expect all those involved to operate to the highest standards of hygiene and safety, ensuring that clean drinking water remains wholesome and there is no deterioration to the quality of supply.”

The EUSR National Water Hygiene course protects the safety of water through good hygiene practices while working on restricted operations. This is defined in the technical guidance notes:

“Work which may involve direct or potential contact with untreated sources of underground water, with partially or fully treated water within water treatment works or with treated water, or any surface of an operational asset (including those temporarily out of use) which will itself be in contact with potable water at any stage in its distribution to the point where it is made available to consumers.”

The EUSR National Water Hygiene course asks candidates to reflect on the definition of wholesome water, drawing attention to its importance as a food source and the implications of a world without clean water. It aims to provide the candidate with an understanding of the scarcity of clean water and the role that water plays in maintaining a healthy and functioning society.

The course aims to develop candidates' understanding of how water can be a carrier of disease; exploring the historic cases which established a better understanding of waterborne disease and developing best practice, looking at the various illnesses that can be contracted through the ingestion of contaminated water and the diseases that still prove challenging today.

Candidates will explore the potential sources of water contamination across all areas of the UK water industry and the consequences should contamination occur.

Last of all, the course examines the steps that candidates can take to prevent contamination of the clean water supply. Broader and overarching actions that the candidate can take to safeguard water quality as well as providing specific examples of working practices that can be adopted in a small number of high-risk scenarios.

Health Screening for the EUSR National Water Hygiene course

A standardised health screening questionnaire must be completed by any candidate required to work on restricted operations. This includes those working on the water network, water treatment works, taking water quality samples – anyone that the water company considers could come in contact with treated water.

Answers on the form that suggest the candidate may be carrying a water-borne disease will require the candidate to be referred to their doctor or occupational health department for checks. The trainer will make the final decision on whether to allow the candidate to carry out the training course. The candidate must pass the health screening before they can be registered for the EUSR National Water Hygiene course and will not be issued a card until both the health screening and the test have been passed.

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