Greeley Reflections
Accreditation Connection, October 22, 2010
Required Life Safety surveys
Additional testing requirements
Portable fire extinguishers are required to be inspected monthly, and maintained annually.
Portable fire extinguishers are required to be inspected monthly, and maintained annually. Once every 5 or 6 years (depending on the extinguisher type) the extinguisher is required to be emptied and inspected on the inside.
Every fire and smoke damper installed in a healthcare occupancy is required to be tested 12 months after the initial installation, and then every 6 years thereafter. In other occupancies, such as business or ambulatory care, the retest frequency is every 4 years. The overhead rolling fire doors are required to be tested once every 12 months.
Battery powered emergency lighting is required to be tested once a month for 30 seconds, and once a year for 90 minutes.
Emergency power generators are required to be load tested to at least 30% of its name-plate rating once a month, within a 20 day / 40 day window. Once every 3 years, the generators are required to be tested for 4 continuous hours at 30% of the name-plate rating. In conjunction with each monthly generator test, all of the automatic transfer switches (ATS) must be exercised and transferred.
Medical gas alarm systems must be tested according to what your own policy requires. If you are not testing it annually, be prepared to defend this decision to a surveyor.
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