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Created exclusively for healthcare facility managers, plant operations professionals, and directors of engineering, this monthly 12-page, award-winning resource helps you comply with The Joint Commission’s Life Safety standards, NFPA codes, and related fire protection provisions. Written by Life Safety expert, Brad Keyes, CHSP, each issue is packed with analysis and advice on fire and life safety issues that’s easy to read and apply to your facility.

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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance

Issue 12, December 1, 2013 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Improvements announced for the Statement of Conditions

  In the October 2013 issue of Joint Commission Perspectives, the accreditor announced that it has...

• Joint Commission announces top 10 findings for first half of 2013

  During a webinar sponsored by the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) during...

• Safety concerning cigarettes

  According to a recent report released from the NFPA, 540 civilian deaths in the United States were...

• Editorially speaking ?

  Editor's note: This month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, offers his thoughts, concerns, and...

• Questions & answers

  Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, owner of Keyes Life Safety Compliance...

• The Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes

  Editor's note: The Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes is coordinated by the NFPA and consists of...

Issue 11, November 1, 2013 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• CMS issues categorical waivers to allow the use of limited sections of the 2012 Life Safety Code

  As reported in numerous member organization newsletters, consultant communications, and...

• New occupancies vs. existing occupancies

  As most of you know by now, the Life Safety Code® (LSC) has new and existing occupancy chapters...

• When AHJs disagree on a design

  Designing a hospital can be an arduous task, especially when you factor in all of the codes and...

• Question & Answers

  Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, consultant for Keyes Life Safety...

Issue 10, October 1, 2013 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Clarifying how CMS adopts the new Life Safety Code

  Editor's note: Brad Keyes, CHSP, is senior editor with HLSC and consultant for Keyes Life Safety...

• Don't forget the International Building Code

  Editor's note: The following article was written by James Murphy, RA, NCARB, president of MRF...

• A fourth player joins the table

  Just like an old West poker game, a new player has joined the accreditation table. Effective July...

• The Joint Commission posts compliance tips

  It has been said that accreditation is a mitigation of risk to the patient. If an organization is...

• Questions & answers

  Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, consultant for Keyes Life Safety...

Issue 9, September 1, 2013 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Upcoming changes with life safety equipment

  Editor's note: Facility managers will face significant changes once CMS finally adopts the 2012...

• Required sprinkler protection in existing nursing homes

  As discussed in the June issue of HLSC, CMS issued a rule in 2008 requiring that all existing...

• The law of diminishing returns

  There is not one healthcare organization in the country that has not felt the squeeze of a slow...

• Editorially speaking ?

  Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, offers his thoughts, concerns, and...

• Questions & answers

  Editor's note: ­Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, consultant for Keyes Life Safety Compliance...

Issue 8, August 1, 2013 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Revisiting Interim Life Safety Measures

  In last month's issue of HLSC, we identified the five most common findings by The Joint Commission...

• Representatives urge CMS to adopt more recent edition of Life Safety Code

  In a bipartisan effort directed toward patient safety and consumer efficiency, members of Congress...

• Marking the means of egress

  Exit signs are so common in hospitals that most employees don't even notice them until they're...

• Questions & answers

  Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, consultant for Keyes Life Safety...

Issue 7, July 1, 2013 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Top life safety surveyor findings in 2012

  Ever since The Joint Commission started using life safety specialists as surveyors in 2005...

• When a survey starts to go bad

  It seems like every survey conducted by a state agency on behalf of CMS or a survey conducted by...

• Honeywell issues notice on fire alarmpull stations

  Honeywell Fire Systems, a division of Honeywell International, has identified an issue with the...

• Editorially speaking ?

  Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, offers his thoughts, concerns, and...

• Questions & Answers

  Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, consultant for Keyes Life Safety...

Issue 6, June 1, 2013 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• The anatomy of a Det Norske Veritas Healthcare survey

  About five years ago, Det Norske Veritas Healthcare (DNV) was approved by CMS as a deeming...

• Unsprinklered hospitals are at risk

  The Life Safety Code® (LSC) does not require existing hospitals to be fully protected with...

• Frequency of surgical fires on the rise

  A fire in a healthcare setting is a serious and potentially deadly issue. As discussed in our...

• Conflicts with codes on corridor projections

  Hospitals have been installing items on corridor walls for decades without much thought as to...

• Editorially speaking

  Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, offers his thoughts, concerns, and...

• Questions & Answers

  Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, consultant for Keyes Life Safety...

Issue 5, May 1, 2013 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• How life safety compliance can reduce hospital-acquired ­infections

  If you are admitted to the hospital, the last thing you want to worry about is developing an...

• CMS proposes sprinkler waivers

  On August 13, 2008, CMS published a final rule in the Federal Register requiring all buildings...

• Why do we need the Life Safety Code?

  Do we still need the Life Safety Code® (LSC)? Is the LSC relevant, particularly if we no longer...

• Editorially speaking ?

  Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, offers his thoughts, concerns, and...

• Questions & Answers

  Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, consultant for Keyes Life Safety...

Issue 4, April 1, 2013 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Making use of risk assessments

  Here's a scenario that is often played out across the country: You have worked diligently to...

• Dealing with dead-bolt locks

  Locks on doors in healthcare occupancies seem to be on the radar of many surveyors and inspectors...

• Corridor doors: Addressing the requirements

  Corridor doors are defined as those doors that separate a corridor from a room or area. Rooms that...

• Hand sanitizer-sparked hospital fire injures girl

  An 11-year-old girl received burns on her chest, chin, and hair, as well as her arms and ears, at...

• Questions & Answers

  Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, consultant for Keyes Life Safety...

Issue 3, March 1, 2013 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Preventing penetrations in rated barriers

  Fire and smoke barrier management has long been an issue with national accreditors, and rightfully...

• Recall issued on fire pump pressure transducers

  About a year ago, Gems Sensors, Inc., of Plainville, Conn., issued a voluntary recall of its...

• Partnering with accreditation organizations

  We recently received an email from a reader who offered the opinion that accreditation...

• Defining major and minor renovations

  During renovation of an existing area in a healthcare occupancy, there may often be a heated...

• Editorially speaking?

  Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, offers his thoughts, concerns, and...

• Questions & Answers

  Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP, consultant for Keyes Life Safety...

• Barrier wall work permit

  Barrier wall work permit

Issue 2, February 1, 2013 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• NFPA makes changes to the 2012 edition of the Life Safety Code

  The 2012 edition of NFPA 101: Life Safety Code® (LSC) is only 18 months old, and already the...

• Medical gas and vacuum system testing and inspection

  Every healthcare facility has a medical gas and ­vacuum system, and the most common one used is...

• Clearing up required corridor widths in healthcare facilities

  Corridor widths in hospitals and nursing homes have to be maintained clear and free up to 8 feet...

• Differing opinions on horizontal sliding doors

  The December 2012 issue of Healthcare Life Safety Compliance (HLSC) included an article on...

• Editorially speaking ?

  The International Code Council (ICC) held final ­action hearings in Portland, Ore., during its...

• Questions & Answers

  Q. Can a fire safety evaluation system (FSES) equivalency be written for an oversized emergency...

Issue 1, January 1, 2013 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Managing the facility

  In one of the most emphatically stated messages ever uttered by a representative from The Joint...

• Durham fire kills patient

  According to news reports from the Durham News-­Observer, an early morning fire last November...

• Preventing leaks in water-based fire protection systems

  Corrosion inside fire protection piping that eventually leads to leaks is a problem that most...

• Questions & Answers

  Questions & Answers   Editor's note: Each month, Senior Editor Brad Keyes, CHSP...

• 2012 story index

  A case for contracted fire alarm testing. May, p. 4.

• Above-ceiling work permit

  Above-ceiling work permit