Author Archive for Scott Wallask

It’s your turn to comment on the proposed life safety standards

Hi folks, it’s Scott Wallask up at HCPro logging in.

The Joint Commission opened its field review for the proposed life safety standards on Tuesday. You should check them out if you have the time. The final version of these standards will take effect in 2009.

I haven’t had a chance to talk to any of my sources or The Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO) yet, but here are some of my initial thoughts:

• Currently, EC.5.20 (Life Safety Code compliance) has four EPs for hospitals. There are nine proposed life safety standards in the field review, with about 100 EPs. However, many of these EPs seem to stem from the current Part 3 of the Statement of Conditions, which makes me wonder whether Part 3 will simply fold into these new standards.
• The Joint Commission indicates that there is a new process under development to ensure that scoring for all of these new EPs will not result in a sudden spike in bad accreditation decisions at hospitals.
• As we first reported in early November, it does indeed appear on the surface that the building maintenance program’s scoring advantages have ceased in the proposed draft.
• There are many specific references within the proposal to NFPA code requirements, which is helpful.

Let us know what you think by clicking the comments link below. I’ll be digging into this topic more in our newsletter, Healthcare Life Safety Compliance.

Thanks…Scott W.

swallask@hcpro.com

Bush veto delays TB fit-testing

Our colleague David LaHoda was good enough to point out on Tuesday afternoon an AHA News Now report that indicated President Bush had vetoed a fiscal year 2008 budget for labor and health and human services.

It’s within this proposed budget that the OSHA annual fit-testing provision for tuberculosis exposure resides. As it stands now, the proposal would allow OSHA to enforce annual respirator fit-testing for TB, which Congress has disallowed for several years.

The veto probably just delays the inevitable when it comes to fit-testing, but for now, OSHA still can’t enforce annual fit-tests for TB respirators.

Thanks,

Scott Wallask

swallask@hcpro.com

The Joint Commission’s building maintenance program may change in 2009

Hi everyone — It’s Scott Wallask over at HCPro.

Well, it looks like The Joint Commission’s building maintenance program-long heralded as a useful tool for facilities to use in complying with certain life safety maintenance requirements-may become less prominent in 2009.

However, don’t expect The Joint Commission to let up on fire equipment inspection, testing, and maintenance, which has proven to be a heavily reviewed area by the accreditor’s life safety surveyors.

The BMP’s scoring advantages that facilities enjoy today may not stay in effect in proposed new life safety standards for 2009, consultant William Koffel told us this week. Koffel–owner of Koffel Associates, Inc., in Elkridge, MD–is familiar with the proposed standards, which will likely fall into a new life safety chapter in the Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals.

The proposed revisions may undergo field review by the end of the year, according to The Joint Commission. Full details on how the revisions affect the future of the BMP will come out during the field review, Koffel said.

The new chapter will include standards for the electronic Statement of Conditions, life safety assessmsents, and managing the Life Safety Code, according to The Joint Commission. There will also be scoring changes.

As of Wednesday afternoon, The Joint Commission had not returned a request for further comment.

Watch for further details in upcoming issues of Healthcare Life Safety Compliance.

Please post comments to us if you have any thoughts.

You can post comments to Mac’s blog now

Hi folks –

It’s Scott Wallask checking in. I just wanted to let all of you know that the “comments” function is finally up and running for Mac’s Safety Space.

To post a comment, you need to log in as a subscriber or trial user to the Hospital Safety Center, though anyone can read the comments without logging in.

Please let us know what you think of Mac’s postings by submitting a comment or share your experiences on a particular topic.

Thanks,

Scott W.

swallask@hcpro.com

Elevator problems cause a scare at a Seattle hospital

Hi everyone -

It’s Scott Wallask checking in here at the Hospital Safety Center.

Those of you who use ISIS model elevators manufactured by ThyssenKrupp should read this story about a hospital that had an elevator failure in Seattle. Luckily, the elevator’s safety brakes worked and no one was injured.

ISIS models use Kevlar ropes that don’t require a machine room. In a letter available at the link above, ThyssenKrupp has outlined a series of actions it will take across the country in response to the hospital mishap.

EPA issues a ruling on epinephrine salts

Hey everyone, it’s Scott Wallask checking in with an interesting note from the EPA. It appears ephineprine salts are officially off the list of P-listed wastes that the agency regulates.

Click here to read the decision.

Sounds like that’s a welcome announcement.

OSHA isn’t checking for annual TB fit-testing yet

Hi everyone –

It’s Scott Wallask up at HCPro. Just an FYI, an OSHA spokesperson confirmed for me today that the agency has not started inspecting for annual fit-testing for tuberculosis (TB), despite what you might have read elsewhere.

OSHA, like all of us, is awaiting final approval of the funding budget for fiscal year 2008. When that happens, it is almost certain that the annual TB fit-testing enforcement will be in effect.

Since 2004, Congress has prohibited OSHA from using budget funds to enforce annual fit-testing provisions for TB, which falls under the respiratory protection standard. But politics and that fellow who snuck back into the country with TB in May shifted the landscape.

Scott W.

swallask@hcpro.com

Update on TB fit-testing requirements

Hi everyone -

It’s Scott Wallask over here at the Hospital Safety Center with a quick note.

There’s been a lot of reports swirling around about annual fit-testing requirements for tuberculosis (TB) in hospitals.

In 2004 as part of OSHA’s budget approval, Congress prohibited the agency from using those funds to enforce fit-testing provisions for TB, which falls under the respiratory protection standard. That prohibition has continued for the past several years.

While it seems likely that the fit-testing ban for TB will end with the fiscal year 2008 budget, it is not official quite yet.

FY 08 technically started today, but at this point, the full Congress has not passed various appropriations bills to send the funding along, Dan Glucksman, a spokesperson for the International Safety Equipment Association in Arlington, VA, told to me this afternoon. The American Hospital Association reported about this aspect as well last week.

So, reports that mandatory annual fit-testing for TB begins today may be a bit premature.

I’m waiting to hear back from OSHA about this whole issue. When I do, I’ll let you know.

Thanks,

Scott W.

swallask@hcpro.com

Joint Commission opens field review for EC revisions

Hi everyone –

It’s Scott Wallask up here at HCPro with a quick a note for you. If you haven’t already seen it, The Joint Commission posted a field review of proposed revisions and renumbering to the EC standards for 2009.

A good thing to read before you look at the actual standards revisions is the link to the “Important chapter information.” You’ll see that the emergency management standards are being proposed for their own chapter in the manual, as is the current EC.5.20 for Life Safety Code compliance (sounds like a LS chapter is coming).

Thanks,
Scott Wallask
Senior Managing Editor
swallask@hcpro.com

Crocs, OSHA, and you

Hi everyone, it’s Scott Wallask over here at HCPro, filling in for Steve Mac, who’s on the tail end of his vacation.

I figured I’d chime in because I am once again amazed at the publicity that Crocs footwear gets from the hospital industry.

Many of you probably saw an Associated Press news report this week noting that Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh had banned staff members from wearing Crocs. Proponents of the ban told the AP that the holes in Crocs could pose a safety hazard should a dropped syringe “hit the target,” so to speak. Naysayers have different views on that idea.

Regardless, it reminds me of an unofficial OSHA note that made the rounds last year about Crocs.

From OSHA’s informal perspective, Crocs aren’t appropriate in a hospital setting if there is a reasonable expectation that blood or other potentially infectious materials could land on an employee’s feet, the agency said last August is its e-mail forum.

Such exposures are likely to occur in the OR, ER, and labs, for example. The bloodborne pathogens standard requires hospitals to provide appropriate personal protective equipment.

However, OSHA also informally indicated that it’s the hospital’s responsibility to:

• Ascertain whether there is reasonable likelihood of exposure to blood or other fluids
• Determine what constitutes appropriate footwear in the absence of exposure to any recognized hazards

In other words, employees could wear Crocs if the hospital determined that they didn’t face exposures on the job to blood and other bodily fluids.

So, the debate rages . . . over shoes.