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Learn Life Safety Code tips and interpretations for healthcare facilities with this in-depth monthly resource.

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Healthcare Life Safety Compliance

Issue 12, December 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Use these nine pointers to avoid life safety pitfalls

  Compliance with The Joint Commission’s life safety and related EC standards often centers on...

• Questions & Answers

  Q: During a recent inspection, our fire marshal said the five-year standpipe waterflow test is...

Issue 11, November 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Fire protection education: Relating better to caregivers will open up their eyes

  Want to keep egress corridors clear of clutter? Go onto the units and talk to the...

• Should E stand for ‘evaluate’ as part of RACE?

  Many facilities have found the RACE acronym to be a useful tool to help staff members recall the...

• Questions & Answers

  Hold-open devices on laboratory doors Q. We had a mock survey recently, and the life safety...

Issue 10, October 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Joint Commission reminder: Don’t put portable space heaters at nurses’ stations

  As many of you prepare to enter chillier months, it’s inevitable that portable space heaters...

• Watch for an overabundance of ornaments, artwork

  It won’t be long before holiday decorations start to show up on units and offices, which...

• Joint Commission uses D icons for documents, at times

  The Joint Commission marks individual elements of performance with a circled “D” icon...

• Questions & Answers

  Q: During some research in the area around our main security control room, we discovered that two...

Issue 9, September 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Joint Commission issues new caution about penetrations

  When the chief engineer at The Joint Commission warns facilities about a life safety deficiency...

• CMS sticks with traditional fire watch stance

  For now, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will continue to observe fire watch...

• LSC is light on document mandates, but don't be lax

  One of the biggest potential pitfalls of any life safety inspection of your facility is whether you...

• Older building proves ripe for life safety scrutiny

  As part of an old facility, Oregon State Hospital’s (OSH) Portland and Salem behavioral...

• Bassinet warmer involved in fire recalled by company

  A medical equipment company has issued a voluntary recall of a line of infant bassinet warmers...

• Your SOC submissions act as living documents

  The Joint Commission created the Statement of Conditions (SOC) to help facility managers assess...

• Questions and Answers

  Q. Is it permitted to have a time clock in an exit stairwell of a hospital? My vice president of...

• Follow specific dimensions for ?No Exit? signs

  Many of you have heard about surveyors or inspectors who focus on exit signs and their required...

Issue 8, August 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Joint Commission revision:You don’t need fire watches for planned disruptions

  The Joint Commission’s amended fire watch policy is bound to make your accreditation...

• Confessions of a former life safety specialist: Corridor clutter is among common tour snags

  Corridor clutter is always on the radar for surveyors. Gone is the old myth that you are allowed to...

• Questions & Answers

  Q: Our fire policy states that someone must be posted at the elevator during a fire alarm to make...

Issue 7, July 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Don’t put patients in egress halls when ED overcrowds

  Those who plan to move patients into exit corridors when routine emergency department (ED...

• Discrepancy in EC.02.03.05?: Joint Commission test appears to conflict with NFPA 25

  : As some of you may have noticed, The Joint Commission’s provisions for main drain tests...

• Questions & Answers

  Q. Are smoke detectors required to be installed in hospital corridors? I attended a seminar...

Issue 6, June 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Inaccessible dampers bring with them long-term ILSMs

  It’s well known that The Joint Commission grants leeway to hospitals when it comes to...

• Physician offices should seek business occupancy status

  In smaller settings, life safety can easily be buried at the bottom of the to-do list, in part...

• NFPA: Nursing home fires kill an average of 16 annually

  Here’s an interesting statistic: Although about half of all nursing home fires involved...

• Questions & Answers

  Should a freestanding medical office (business occupancy) be required to evacuate everyone when an...

Issue 5, May 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Door gaps and wire tied to sprinkler brace grab notice

  The life safety specialist who visited Parrish Medical Center in Titusville, FL, was a former Air...

• NFPA: Cooking fires remain the top threat in hospitals

  Every year in hospitals and hospices, there are 1,600 fires that result in an average of one death...

• Book excerpt: Learn how LS.01.01.01 ties into SOC provisions

  The Joint Commission?s 2009 life safety chapter incorporates many of the provisions under the old...

• Questions & Answers

  Magnetic latches on suites We recently had an inspection in our hospital where the inspector cited...

Issue 4, April 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Documentation and doors remain survey trouble spots

  To nip potential Joint Commission problems before they become bigger, you may want to immediately...

• Joint Commission notebook: Life safety specialist scheduling remains in flux

  Following is a list of documentation that The Joint Commission’s life safety specialists are...

• Questions & Answers

  We currently have a building maintenance program (BMP) that surveyors said was a good program...

Issue 3, March 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Work with authorities to determine hazardous areas

  Hazardous areas are locations in healthcare facilities that pose a degree of hazard greater than...

• Learn the official rules for wheeled items in corridors

  An ongoing debate exists about which types of wheeled items are allowed in healthcare facility...

• Questions and Answers

  Q. Are fire dampers required in ductwork when the duct penetrates the walls of the same room that...

Issue 2, February 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• DNV wants to shake up the image of life safety surveys

  Compared to The Joint Commission’s lengthy fire protection requirements, the life safety...

• PFIs, ILSMs take center stage in 2009 life safety scoring

  Here are some practical ideas related to The Joint Commission's new scoring that will help your...

• Interior finish requirements depend first on the location of the materials, then their ratings

  As important as barriers in healthcare facilities are, what is put on the walls, floors, and...

• Questions & Answers

  Q: Paragraph 7.1.3.2.1(e) in the Life Safety Code (LSC) prohibits penetrations in exits unless they...

Issue 1, January 1, 2009 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• The time is here - new life safety standards take effect

  With The Joint Commission’s new life safety standards taking effect on January 1, let’s...

• Questions & Answers

  Q. Local fire officials are requiring 44-inch aisles within our suites, healthcare, ambulatory, and...