All Entries in the "EC" Category

What The Joint Commission says about smoking areas

In the not-so-distant past, I was talking to a peer about requirements for smoking areas in the behavioral health setting.

There is not a great deal of guidance on this one. Environment of care standard EC.02.01.03 requires [more]

Hazmat inventory provisions under EC.02.02.01

Environment of care standard EC.02.02.01 talks of maintaining an inventory of hazardous materials and waste.

I’ve been wondering when folks such as you would get around to looking over the revised hazmat standard under EC.02.02.01. After the establishment of the new life safety and emergency management standards for 2009, The Joint Commission did the most tinkering [more]

Life safety sessions at the Hospital Safety Center Symposium are timely considering Joint Commission data

Hey, it’s Scott Wallask, and I almost can’t believe we’re in the single digits on our Hospital Safety Center countdown clock as we close in on next week’s 3rd Annual Hospital Safety Center Symposium. I’ve been watching that countdown tick away since last year.

Given that The Joint Commission’s former EC.5.20 (which required compliance with the Life Safety Code and has since splintered into the life safety standards) was the top cited standard in hospitals in the first half of 2008, I have to think Brad Keyes’ two life safety sessions at the symposium will have the full attention of attendees.  I hope to see you at the symposium.

Five reasons to attend the Hospital Safety Center Symposium

Hello, it’s Scott Wallask logging in. There’s still time to make plans to attend the 3rd Annual Hospital Safety Center Symposium May 14-15 in Las Vegas, and to nudge those of you on the fence, here are five great reasons to join us: [more]

Clean linen and the departed

Here’s an interesting scenario that came across my inbox: Someone asked colleagues on an online chat group about the need to keep clean linen covered in a morgue.

There is no Joint Commission requirement in this regard. However, in the hands of a particularly prickly surveyor, [more]

What The Joint Commission says about housekeeping activities

I fielded a question recently about what housekeeping regulations are out there.

With the Joint Commission (which pretty much reflects the CMS Conditions of Participation concerns in this area), the applicable standards would be: [more]

Mac’s MacGyver instinct about behavioral risks

A reader on HCPro’s Patient Safety Talk listserv asked about maintaining safe environments in behavioral health settings.

I mentioned to her that the important thing to keep track of as you assess the environment and identify improvement opportunities is to be sure that you are also identifying mitigation strategies for those improvements you can’t implement right away. [more]

I think the new couch looks best over by the wall… on second thought, maybe in front of that window…

Well, the never-ending drama of now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t in the world of strategic compliance marches on. Fortunately, my brothers and sisters in safety, the announcement of revised Joint Commission standards is virtually without impact for you (unless of course, you were otherwise occupied when these “changes” first graced our world — if you were, good on you, they’re just as meaningless as they were then).

I’ll default to my CMS logic in noting that none of the changes should have been a surprise to anyone being accredited for the purposes of bellying up to the Medicare/Medicaid bar. These were existing requirements, and, oddly enough, very much in keeping with an appropriately managed, comprehensive safety program, which I know you have because you tune into this blog on a regular basis (I certainly hope it helps, at any rate). [more]

Clean up cardboard boxes frequently to limit fire risks

As to the life safety implications of cardboard boxes, they are indeed made of a combustible material and we should do everything we can to minimize their presence, especially for extended periods of time.

Waste removal processes for cardboard should be effective. While there is no specific time measure, it’s generally demonstrable when the waste removal process is not working properly.

Hold on. Joint Commission revises… revised standards

Remember those new elements of performance (EP) The Joint Commission announced back in January? Well, for many of them, you can just ‘forget about it.’

The Joint Commission has, after discussion with the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS), reduced the number of changes from its January 5, 2009, announced standards revisions. According to the official announcement, the changes [more]