Safety Articles by Topic: Building Maintenance
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 31, August 23, 2012
This is a condition/practice I’ve noticed at any number of facilities.
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 31, August 23, 2012
Whether it's renovating a hospital wing or building a new facility from the ground up, healthcare...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 29, August 9, 2012
One of the curious things I encounter on an increasingly regular basis is the Dorian Gray-like (but...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 29, August 9, 2012
Whether it's renovating a hospital wing or building a new facility from the ground up, healthcare...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 29, August 9, 2012
When a healthcare facility contemplates new construction or renovation, the organization selects a...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 27, July 12, 2012
Advice from healthcare safety expert Steve MacArthur on permissions from authorities having...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 26, July 5, 2012
And so, I have become introduced to the concept of exhaust manifold and/or engine...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 26, July 5, 2012
In the OR there are very specific requirements concerning temperature, humidity, and air...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 24, June 21, 2012
On April 17, a hospital building in Southern California shook violently, swaying as the ground...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 22, June 7, 2012
Strangely enough, there remains some uncertainty relative to the management of temperature and...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 15, April 19, 2012
Structural engineers at the University of California San Diego shook an 80-foot-high model hospital...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 43, October 27, 2011
Many hospital buildings in California are still not earthquake-proof, despite the 1994 landmark law...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 71, June 2, 2011
The tornado that ripped through St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin, MO, serves as a...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 70, May 26, 2011
The entire 367-bed St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin, MO, needed to be evacuated...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 66, April 28, 2011
Two bills were signed by California Governor Jerry Brown (D) that could give hospitals a seven-year...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 64, April 14, 2011
Q: Is there a regulation that states you can't store crash carts behind locked doors? We have kept...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 61, March 24, 2011
An innovative building design will allow the brand new Mills-Peninsula Medical Center in San Mateo...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 59, March 10, 2011
The new building at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, IL, will have new technology, a...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 57, February 24, 2011
A 26-year-old employee of Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, IL, was killed in...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 56, February 17, 2011
Northeast Hospital Corp., located in Beverly, MA, is facing a $63,000 fine after an investigation...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 56, February 17, 2011
A six-story parking garage at University Hospital in San Antonio, TX, collapsed on February 14...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 46, December 9, 2010
Okay, maybe not really wicked, but what’s the point of blogging if one doesn’t...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 46, December 9, 2010
A common problem some hospitals face is corridor clutter; a nurse bangs into a filing cabinet by...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 43, November 11, 2010
An investigation done by California Watch found that California has been offering little...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 43, November 11, 2010
Natural disasters happen. Healthcare facilities should have a mutual understanding when it comes to...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 6, June 1, 2010
Briefings on Hospital Safety is the industry leader in covering The Joint Commission, OSHA, and...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 6, June 1, 2010
The dangers of Legionella in hospital water systems are well known. Even decorative water fountains...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 17, April 28, 2010
Even decorative water fountains can be a risk with Legionella, as Aurora St. Luke’s South...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 6, April 26, 2010
EC will likely be a focus in 2010 for surveyors when it comes to patient suicide risks, said Sharon...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 15, April 14, 2010
Under EC.02.05.01, The Joint Commission requires facilities to have a method of checking...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 15, April 14, 2010
California health officials this week punished hospitals that have allegedly run afoul of...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 14, April 7, 2010
We’re excited to announce that HCPro has just published its newest compliance guide, Physical...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 4, April 1, 2010
Q: We have our code blue medical emergency system tied into the hospital’s fire alarm system...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 4, April 1, 2010
Early survey reports we’ve received in 2010 indicate that The Joint Commission is continuing...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 4, April 1, 2010
We often write about the immediate response to a fire, but for a blaze at a Maine hospital’s...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 4, April 1, 2010
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance exclusively covers life safety issues in healthcare facilities...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 4, April 1, 2010
Inside:
Options for corpse storage during emergency response
EC scoring may herald...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 4, April 1, 2010
Bucking what anecdotally appears to be a trend, Skaggs Regional Medical Center in Branson, MO...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 4, April 1, 2010
In light of a heavy fine against a medical center in California, safety committees should...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 9, March 3, 2010
If your hospital doesn’t already test electric-driven fires pumps at peak capacity under...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 4, March 1, 2010
LS.02.01.30 requires hospitals to maintain building features to protect people from smoke and fire...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 3, March 1, 2010
Briefings on Hospital Safety is the industry leader in covering The Joint Commission, OSHA, and...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 3, March 1, 2010
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers has proposed a...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 8, February 24, 2010
Those of you who deal with unsealed penetrations in rated fire walls and floors can check out a new...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 8, February 24, 2010
The 4th Annual Hospital Safety Center Symposium is coming May 6-7, and we want to alert companies...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 2, February 1, 2010
Q: Is joint compound acceptable to use to seal penetrations through a fire-rated barrier made with...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 2, February 1, 2010
Although informal, a new series of interpretations about exit discharges, utility penetrations, and...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 2, February 1, 2010
Many citations under LS.02.01.10 come from a pair of easy-to-find, yet pervasive, problems:
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 2, February 1, 2010
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance exclusively covers life safety issues in healthcare facilities...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 4, January 27, 2010
Next Wednesday, February 3, join safety experts Steve MacArthur and Brad Keyes, CHSP, both from The...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 2, January 13, 2010
Anyone involved with emergency planning or generators in hospitals will want to keep an eye on...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 1, January 1, 2010
Join Brad Keyes, CHSP, life safety consultant at The Greeley Company, as he answers your questions...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 1, January 1, 2010
Those of you who have heard of the Lean Six Sigma approach to business operations efficiency may be...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 1, January 1, 2010
With life safety concerns taking such prominent spots on The Joint Commission’s most recent...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 1, January 1, 2010
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance exclusively covers life safety issues in healthcare facilities...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 1, January 1, 2010
Briefings on Hospital Safety is the industry leader in covering The Joint Commission, OSHA, and...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 49, December 9, 2009
Douglas Erickson, deputy executive director of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 12, December 1, 2009
Q: During a recent inspection, our fire marshal said the five-year standpipe waterflow test is...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 12, December 1, 2009
Compliance with The Joint Commission’s life safety and related EC standards often centers on...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 12, December 1, 2009
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance exclusively covers life safety issues in healthcare facilities...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 12, December 1, 2009
The Joint Commission’s survey at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler continued what appears to...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 12, December 1, 2009
Briefings on Hospital Safety is the industry leader in covering The Joint Commission, OSHA, and...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 47, November 18, 2009
Join Steve MacArthur, safety consultant for The Greeley Company, as he offers advice and best...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 46, November 11, 2009
Join Steve MacArthur, safety consultant for The Greeley Company, as he offers advice and best...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 46, November 11, 2009
In sobering news for hospital safety professionals, four of the top 10 most cited Joint Commission...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 45, November 4, 2009
As we first reported Tuesday on our “HospitalSafety” Twitter account, the Centers for...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 11, November 1, 2009
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance exclusively covers life safety issues in healthcare facilities...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 11, November 1, 2009
During this Joint Commission visit, surveyors looked at glucometers in a lab, air-handler test...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 11, November 1, 2009
Briefings on Hospital Safety is the industry leader in covering The Joint Commission, OSHA, and...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 42, October 13, 2009
The Joint Commission has no requirements for hospitals to lock electrical panels. However, an...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 41, October 7, 2009
Join Steve MacArthur, safety consultant for The Greeley Company, as he offers advice and best...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 10, October 1, 2009
As many of you prepare to enter chillier months, it’s inevitable that portable space heaters...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 10, October 1, 2009
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance exclusively covers life safety issues in healthcare facilities...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 10, October 1, 2009
Ultraviolet-C light, when pointed straight down into a surgical site for infection control...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 10, October 1, 2009
In our report from the annual ASHE conference, we look at why life safety compliance will continue...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 10, October 1, 2009
Briefings on Hospital Safety is the industry leader in covering The Joint Commission, OSHA, and...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 10, October 1, 2009
Q: During some research in the area around our main security control room, we discovered that two...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 10, October 1, 2009
It won’t be long before holiday decorations start to show up on units and offices, which...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 38, September 16, 2009
Join Steve MacArthur, safety consultant for The Greeley Company, as he offers advice and best...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 9, September 1, 2009
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacteria that—like Legionella —lives in water pipes as...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 9, September 1, 2009
For University of North Carolina (UNC) Hospitals in Chapel Hill, a previous industrial accident...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 9, September 1, 2009
What is tepid water? For the purposes of eyewash safety, the American National Standards Institute...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 9, September 1, 2009
Briefings on Hospital Safety is the industry leader in covering The Joint Commission, OSHA, and...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 9, September 1, 2009
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance exclusively covers life safety issues in healthcare facilities...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 9, September 1, 2009
When the chief engineer at The Joint Commission warns facilities about a life safety deficiency...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 9, September 1, 2009
For now, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will continue to observe fire watch...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 9, September 1, 2009
One of the biggest potential pitfalls of any life safety inspection of your facility is whether you...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 9, September 1, 2009
As part of an old facility, Oregon State Hospital’s (OSH) Portland and Salem behavioral...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 9, September 1, 2009
A medical equipment company has issued a voluntary recall of a line of infant bassinet warmers...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 9, September 1, 2009
The Joint Commission created the Statement of Conditions (SOC) to help facility managers assess...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 9, September 1, 2009
Q. Is it permitted to have a time clock in an exit stairwell of a hospital? My vice president of...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 9, September 1, 2009
Many of you have heard about surveyors or inspectors who focus on exit signs and their required...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 35, August 26, 2009
Generally, The Joint Commission would prefer to see your plans for improvement (PFIs) funded when...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 33, August 12, 2009
A Joint Commission official assigned all attendees of the American Society for Healthcare...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 8, August 1, 2009
Briefings on Hospital Safety is the industry leader in covering The Joint Commission, OSHA, and...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 8, August 1, 2009
Q: Our fire policy states that someone must be posted at the elevator during a fire alarm to make...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 8, August 1, 2009
Corridor clutter is always on the radar for surveyors. Gone is the old myth that you are allowed to...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 8, August 1, 2009
The Joint Commission’s amended fire watch policy is bound to make your accreditation...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 8, August 1, 2009
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance exclusively covers life safety issues in healthcare facilities...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 8, August 1, 2009
The Joint Commission’s 2009 life safety and emergency management chapters have proven to be...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 8, August 1, 2009
What does going full tilt on environmentally green efforts get you, really, in this economy?
A...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 31, July 29, 2009
Join Steve MacArthur, safety consultant for The Greeley Company, as he offers advice and best...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 30, July 22, 2009
It won’t take long for this cheery news to reach your bosses: Life Safety Code (LSC...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 29, July 15, 2009
The 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code (LSC) requires hospitals to post exit signs that are...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 28, July 8, 2009
As we first reported last week on Mac’s Safety Space, there appear to be no plans by The...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 7, July 1, 2009
Q. Are smoke detectors required to be installed in hospital corridors? I attended a seminar...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 7, July 1, 2009
: As some of you may have noticed, The Joint Commission’s provisions for main drain tests...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 7, July 1, 2009
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance exclusively covers life safety issues in healthcare facilities...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 26, June 24, 2009
In an exclusive story from HCPro, it appears The Joint Commission?s provisions for main drain tests...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 25, June 17, 2009
A trio of construction workers at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Medical Center got a surprise when a...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 6, June 1, 2009
Should a freestanding medical office (business occupancy) be required to evacuate everyone when an...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 6, June 1, 2009
It’s well known that The Joint Commission grants leeway to hospitals when it comes to...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 6, June 1, 2009
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance exclusively covers life safety issues in healthcare facilities...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 6, June 1, 2009
Under Joint Commission standard EM.02.02.11, there is a brief mention of managing mortuary services...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 6, June 1, 2009
February 12 started as a routine day in San Jose, CA, at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 6, June 1, 2009
In the spirit of its 2009 standards offering greater clarification to help hospital compliance, The...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 6, June 1, 2009
On the surface, it would appear that trimming hospital budgets would have a negative effect on...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 6, June 1, 2009
Briefings on Hospital Safety is the industry leader in covering The Joint Commission, OSHA, and...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 20, May 14, 2009
Hospital actions in response to the H1N1 swine flu outbreak served as a "good dress...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 19, May 12, 2009
A fire in an outside Dumpster climbed up an attached construction debris chute and into part of a...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 5, May 1, 2009
Magnetic latches on suites
We recently had an inspection in our hospital where the inspector cited...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 5, May 1, 2009
The Joint Commission?s 2009 life safety chapter incorporates many of the provisions under the old...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 5, May 1, 2009
Every year in hospitals and hospices, there are 1,600 fires that result in an average of one death...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 5, May 1, 2009
The life safety specialist who visited Parrish Medical
Center in Titusville, FL, was a former Air...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 5, May 1, 2009
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance exclusively covers life safety issues in healthcare facilities...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 5, May 1, 2009
Briefings on Hospital Safety is the industry leader in covering The Joint Commission, OSHA, and...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 5, May 1, 2009
Although it might sound like obvious advice, plenty of safety officers have nonetheless slipped on...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 5, May 1, 2009
Given the Obama administration’s goal of improving healthcare information technology systems...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 5, May 1, 2009
Hospitals in the compliance soup of the Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule mandating...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 15, April 15, 2009
A pediatric physician-in-training who inadvertently saw young patients at three Chicago area...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 4, April 1, 2009
We currently have a building maintenance program (BMP) that surveyors said was a good program...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 4, April 1, 2009
To nip potential Joint Commission problems before they become bigger, you may want to immediately...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 4, April 1, 2009
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance exclusively covers life safety issues in healthcare facilities...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 9, March 4, 2009
Considering our first item above, you’ll have a renewed appreciation of life safety floor...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 9, March 4, 2009
In a statistic that can only be bad news for hospitals, the former EC.5.20 was the most cited Joint...
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Hospital Safety Center, Issue 3, March 1, 2009
A fire on the roof of a New Hampshire hospital proved the need to keep tabs on projects involving...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 8, February 25, 2009
A hospital in Indiana is reconfiguring its patient bedroom windows to no longer fully open after a...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 1, January 7, 2009
Last month, we reported on a patient who wandered onto the roof of The University of Pittsburgh...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 1, January 1, 2009
With The Joint Commission’s new life safety standards taking effect on January 1, let’s...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 49, December 3, 2008
A few weeks back, we read about a hospital that received some unwanted surveyor attention related...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 12, December 1, 2008
Seven tips to keep you ahead
By now, most of you have had a chance to peruse The Joint...
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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance, Issue 12, December 1, 2008
In an example of the long-term ramifications behind requirements for improvement (RFI) from The...
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Hospital Safety Insider, Issue 47, November 12, 2008
While the eyes of the world were on the U.S. presidential race, taxpayers in Pomeroy, WA, had their...
