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 12, December 7, 2019

• How not to run out of water

  It’s not something that happens often, but water system interruptions can severely disrupt...

• Has the ransomware threat taught hospitals how to protect electronic infrastructure?

  While the number of attacks is increasing, so too is the cost of the attacks. In Q2 of 2019, the...

Issue 11, November 4, 2019 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Life safety violations once again top list of Joint Commission findings

  It’s a broken record. No matter how many times the experts tell us how to avoid being...

• Violence prevention behind the scenes

  It’s no secret that violence prevention is increasingly becoming a major part of the job...

• Keyes Q&A: Plywood walls, oxygen cylinders, and fire watches

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

• Cold weather is here; get your clinic in gear

  The cold weather can engender many dangers that can injure your patients, your employees, and the...

Issue 10, October 1, 2019 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• An El Paso hospital trained for a mass shooting

  After a gunman open fired at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, on August 5, the emergency department at...

• Using alternative energy to cut expenses and emissions in hospitals

  Hospitals are under pressure to watch the bottom line and reduce the financial burden of...

• Keyes Q&A: Installing fire extinguishers, IT closets, active shooter security

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

• Info exchange helps prepare hospitals for taxing patient surges

  In today’s environment of mass shootings and other mass casualty incidents (MCI), hospitals...

Issue 9, September 1, 2019 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Large earthquakes rattle California hospitals, while the bill to keep them open grows larger

  A new study warns that retrofitting California’s hospitals to withstand large earthquakes may...

• Keyes Q&A: Smoke compartments, soiled utility rooms, smoke detectors

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

• Microhospitals keep costs down while catering to the masses

  As the need for increased healthcare services becomes more widespread in even the most remote parts...

• BBI is now required: time to measure your square footage

  Not only is the BBI now mandatory, it’s a requirement with its own EP. And you might need...

Issue 8, August 1, 2019 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Joint Commission issues clarification regarding the use of power strips in patient care areas

  The Joint Commission has issued a clarification regarding the use of power strips in hospitals...

• Keyes Q&A: Fire damper testing, hazardous rooms, ceilings, corridors

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

• Another big hurricane season could be on the way

  Well, as the quick formation of tropical storm Barry in July showed, you can't relax. Hurricanes...

• Lessons learned from a death outside a hospital's doorstep

  When mistakes cost lives, and why apologizing is valuable

Issue 7, July 1, 2019 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Design for disaster: Building with survival in mind

  As healthcare facilities consider their future needs and resiliency in the face of emergency...

• Keyes Q&A: Areas of refuge, partial O2 cylinders, and natural gas generators

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

• Doors and videos: Joint Commission offers more ligature prevention clarification

  In a Q&A piece in the May Perspectives issue, The Joint Commission clarified key requirements...

• Does your healthcare facility have water intrusion?

  Water intrusion can cause a host of issues impacting buildings and the health of the people who use...

Issue 6, June 1, 2019 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Healthcare facilities in retail facilities and boutique malls

  Take a look around in those suburban and rural areas that used to be home to giant shopping malls...

• The top fire safety violations and how your facility can avoid them

  Once again, The Joint Commission has released its top ten list of frequently cited standards in...

• Keyes Q&A: Securing gas cylinders, fire extinguishers, kitchens, door gaps

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

• Review your medical evaluation of staffers who will wear respirators

  OSHA is reminding employers that a medical evaluation of each employee is required if that worker...

• Four steps to improve your hospital quality and safety rankings

  Nearly two decades after the Institute of Medicine published its groundbreaking healthcare safety...

Issue 5, May 1, 2019 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• CMS revisions reflect infectious disease danger and emergency standby power systems

  As if healthcare facilities didn’t have enough to worry about with the always-changing...

• EPA issues final rule on hazardous waste handling

  It’s been 11 years in the making, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released...

• Most-cited standards in 2018 show you need to check your sprinkler heads

  In case you were wondering, surveyors for The Joint Commission (TJC) are still inspecting sprinkler...

• Keyes Q&A: Areas of refuge, vision panels, and locked suite doors

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

Issue 4, April 1, 2019 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• HVAC monitoring systems help engineers contain infectious diseases, save money

  Hospital engineers don’t have much time on their hands these days. So much information about...

• How engineers can help prevent hospital violence

  In what came as no surprise, the American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE)’s 2018...

• Keyes Q&A: Cross-corridor doors, hydraulic placards, HVAC, fire alarm testing

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

• General Healthcare Requirements: Special Definitions and Classifications

  This article is an excerpt from the HCPro book The Life Safety Code® Workbook and Study Guide...

Issue 3, March 1, 2019 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Know your hospital's electrical backup plan

  A series of recent electrical grid failures, including a massive transformer station explosion in...

• Making your emergency lighting look better

  New LED and photoluminescent options make it easier and cheaper to install aesthetically pleasing...

• Air pressures, cleaning, and maintenance critical to sterile compounding areas

  Work with your pharmacy and infection control teams to ensure your facility’s sterile...

• Keyes Q&A: Frames, beauty shops, fire ratings, and sprinklers

  Q: I work in an old hospital, and we have quite a few fire-rated openings that are missing labels...

Issue 2, February 1, 2019 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• A primer on construction readiness and compliance in your facility

   A new year brings new beginnings, and many hospitals will enter 2019 either with new...

• Review the little things to help your life safety and emergency preparation readiness game

  Often in healthcare facilities, it’s the small details missed that can raise the ire of a...

• Ligature risk, IC, drug safety will dominate 2019 as CMS increases pressure on AOs

  Make sure your staff knows and implements your policy on continuous observation of suicidal...

• Q&A: Corridor door closers, wrap plates, steam generators, and keys

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

Issue 1, January 2, 2019 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• How to design your units to keep alert for ligature and suicide risks

  There’s been a lot of talk lately about ligature and suicide prevention in hospitals...

• Planning a freestanding ER? ASHE suggests focusing on life safety issues

  As health systems constantly seek ways to increase revenues while keeping costs down and dealing...

• Are you well-versed in survey etiquette?

  When accreditation organization (AO) surveyors show up for survey, people automatically become...

• Q&A: Mechanical room storage, risk assessments, patient rooms

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

• HLSC 2018 index

  HLSC 2018 index