Safety Newsletters

Healthcare Life Safety Compliance Hospital Safety Center Medical Environment Update

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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Issue 11, November 1, 2018

• CMS will incorporate ligature risk recommendations

  After a long period of anticipation, it looks as though CMS will incorporate ligature risk...

• Executive Briefings: EC, LSC and ligature risks still at survey forefront

  Highlight the zip codes where employees live so you can have a handy reference of where staff is...

• Review your water management plan as CMS intensifies focus on Legionella

  A good water management plan begins with your facilities management team and a solid risk...

Issue 10, October 1, 2018 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• All you ever needed to know about swinging doors

  In many ways, a door is a simple device. It’s considered the entry point into (or exit out...

• Q&A: Webinar highlights steps being taken to reduce violence in hospitals

  Bonnie S. Michelman, CPP, CHPA, director of police, security, and outside services at Massachusetts...

• Expect door repairs to take time as CMS re-quirements create backlog of parts

  Be prepared to ask for time extensions from your accrediting organization and CMS to bring doors...

• Keyes Q&A: Oxygen use in salons, tamper-resistant receptacles, and toaster ovens

  Each month, Brad Keyes, CHSP, owner of Keyes Life Safety Compliance, answers your questions about...

• New CMS guidance on ligature risk says TJC recommendations set the bar

  Expect CMS surveyors to be referring to recommendations set out by The Joint Commission (TJC) last...

Issue 9, September 1, 2018 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• CMS revises recent memo on requirements for reducing risk of Legionella infection

  Be prepared for renewed interest in your water management program and especially how it is designed...

• ASHE seeking feedback on monthly elevator-recall tests and exit-sign inspections

   The American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), looking to potentially prompt code...

• TJC changing how surveyors evaluate healthcare leadership's attention to safety

   The Joint Commission (TJC) announced in the June issue of its Perspectives newsletter that it...

• Existing construction vs. new construction, doorknobs on Dutch doors, courtyards

  Each month, Brad Keyes, CHSP, owner of Keyes Life Safety Compliance, answers your questions about...

• New CMS guidance on ligature risk says TJC recommendations set the bar

  Expect CMS surveyors to be referring to recommendations set out by The Joint Commission (TJC) last...

Issue 8, August 8, 2018 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Surviving the storm: How one Houston hospital held together after Hurricane Harvey

   Houston, barely 50 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, is familiar with flooding. Each year...

• Irked by ’preventable’ surgical fires, FDA issues alert for healthcare professionals

  Expect The Joint Commission and other accrediting organizations to more closely examine your...

• Examine cardboard boxes stored on floor to avoid infection control, life safety citations

  Anytime you see cardboard boxes stored directly on a floor, you need to ask what’s in them...

• Use this checklist to reduce self-harm risks in the emergency room

  With the renewed focus on ligature and self-harm, facilities need to undergo a complete...

• Keyes Q&A: Sprinklers in lieu of smoke detectors, testing fire pumps and smoke doors

  Each month, Brad Keyes, CHSP, owner of Keyes Life Safety Compliance, answers your questions about...

Issue 7, July 1, 2018 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• An inspection could be costly if you’re not complying with RCRA while disposing of waste

  With their recent RCRA revisions, which could be adopted by every state within the next couple of...

• CMS reports highlight common problems surveyors find with fire sprinkler systems

  As in years past, sprinkler head problems were at the heart of many of the citations given to the...

• Book excerpt: Requirements for keeping corridors clear, maximum travel distance to exits

  In this excerpt from the HCPro book Analyzing the Hospital Life Safety Survey, Third Edition...

• Keyes Q&A: Calculating fire extinguisher size, sprinkler inventory, alarm testing

  Each month, Brad Keyes, CHSP, owner of Keyes Life Safety Compliance, answers your questions about...

Issue 6, June 1, 2018 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Five key steps for creating, implementing an active shooter plan at your healthcare facility

  The threat of an active shooter roaming the hallways is one of the biggest worries among safety...

• NFPA unveils fast-tracked, new standard to help with response to active shooter incidents

  Spurred by coordination lapses in the aftermath of recent mass shootings, the NFPA, as promised...

• Almost two-thirds of hospitals are not compliant with Joint Commission’s top LS, EC standards

  All of the 10 most-cited standards by The Joint Commission in 2017 were in or linked to the...

• If there is an air pressure problem, 'it's almost inevitable that a surveyor will find it'

  Make a list of all areas that are required to have positive or negative air pressure and ensure...

• Keyes Q&A: Fire alarms in staff sleeping rooms, air pressures and emergency preparedness

  Each month, Brad Keyes, CHSP, owner of Keyes Life Safety Compliance, answers your questions about...

Issue 5, May 1, 2018 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Healthcare systems still have work to do to be better prepared for next disaster

  A timely, recent report by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security examined how the U.S...

• Acuity-adaptable rooms, microhospitals are healthcare tech trends on NFPA's radar

  ECRI Institute released its annual top 10 list of technology-related issues that hospital and...

• Check powered fire doors to ensure newly clarified info on door-closing devices is met

  After the newest clarification on fire doors from CMS and revisions to The Joint...

• Keyes Q&A: Design requirements for areas for cleaning and sanitizing, fire alarms in the OR, more

  Each month, Brad Keyes, CHSP, owner of Keyes Life Safety Compliance, answers your questions about...

Issue 4, April 1, 2018 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• HHS to help struggling hospitals in Puerto Rico recover while hospitals on the mainland take notes

  As hospitals in Puerto Rico continue to struggle with recovery in the aftermath of the disastrous...

• NFPA will fast-track new standard to address active shooter events, other violent incidents

  The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is fast-tracking the development of a new standard...

• ASHE issues corridor door clarifications; ECRI urges mattress infection control

  ASHE has issued a statement that seeks to decipher what it says is confusion over whether CMS is...

• Q&A: Electrical backup considerations for disaster preparedness and maintenance

  This Q&A, taken from an October 2016 ASHE webinar, discusses how a well-designed emergency...

• Keyes Q&A: Bathroom door locks, removal of fire dampers, and the excitement of pipe chases

  Each month, Brad Keyes, CHSP, owner of Keyes Life Safety Compliance, answers your questions about...

Issue 3, March 1, 2018 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Emergency planning spotlight: California plans tested in wake of wildfires

  It’s one thing to have the plan available, but yet another to put it into action. Hospitals...

• Joint Commission issues more suicide prevention advice, disposable GI scopes approved

  Just when you thought you had your suicide prevention safeguards in place, things are about to...

• New technology available for fire exit signs

  A Pennsylvania company claims to have the technology available to not only meet the exit sign...

• Keyes Q&A: Door levers, generator inspections, oxygen cylinders, more

  Each month, Brad Keyes, CHSP, owner of Keyes Life Safety Compliance, answers your questions about...

Issue 2, February 1, 2018 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• HFAP reports most-cited standards, suggestions for improvements

  The Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program (HFAP) has released an annual quality report that...

• AHRQ releases new facility design toolkit

  The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released a new online tool that could...

• Keyes Q&A: Disabled fire detectors, door bumpers, and marked fire doors

  Each month, Brad Keyes, CHSP, owner of Keyes Life Safety Compliance, answers your questions about...

• 2012 edition of NFPA 99 changes how you handle medical gases and vacuums in your facility

  In a Q&A taken from the 2017 ASHE webinar, “NFPA 99 2012 Update: Medical Gas and Vacuum...

• Book excerpt: What you need to know about fire alarm test reports

  In this excerpt from the new HCPro book Analyzing the Hospital Life Safety Survey, Third Edition...

Issue 1, January 1, 2018 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• IAHSS report suggests risk mitigation for violence in healthcare facilities

  An international watchdog for safety and security in healthcare facilities has released a report...

• Joint Commission issues suggestions for reducing suicides in healthcare

  As of March 1, 2016, The Joint Commission ordered its surveyors to immediately start placing more...

• Infection control improvements through better design and environment of care

  In a panel discussion, Dana Swenson, senior vice president at UMass Memorial Health Care; Barbara...

• Duct detectors, lockers in corridors, and fire hose valves

  Each month, Brad Keyes, CHSP, owner of Keyes Life Safety Compliance, answers your questions about...

• HLSC 2017 index: What you might have missed in 2017

  A helpful index recapping all of the stories published in Healthcare Life Safety Compliance in 2017.