While the saying “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” may be popular among those who skirt tragedy through life, it is not an attitude we can adopt as engineers.
As professionals, we should endeavor “to protect the environment and the safety, health, welfare and property of the public.” This is the No. 1 principle of ASPE’s voluntary code of ethics. When it comes to Legionella, there are new standards and methods being developed to help us protect the public. We should become familiar with these, and understand how Legionella affects the public practically.