Generic ID badges are okay for medical students in your hospital

Some of my colleagues and I were talking recently about what to do with ID badges for medical students who are only on site for a week or two.

You could make up a batch of generic student badges without [more]

ASHE: You need to file waivers with CMS for six-year damper tests

ASHE sent a notice to its members Friday indicating that if hospitals want to observe six-year damper testing — as allowed by The Joint Commmission and the 2007 editions of NFPA 80, Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives, and NFPA 105, Installation of Smoke Door Assemblies — they’ll need to apply for a waiver from CMS.

CMS doesn’t formally recognize the six-year frequencies, due to the fact the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code, which CMS enforces, references older editions of NFPA 80 and 105, ASHE said.

I’ll try to get confirmation about this from CMS, but I have no reason to doubt what ASHE is saying. The full notice is only available to ASHE members.

Questions raised at one hospital about adequate PPE supplies

Hi everyone, it’s Scott Wallask. My colleagues over at OSHA Healthcare Advisor blogged this week about a hospital that was butting heads with some employees regarding personal protective equipment.

The workers don’t believe the hospital has supplied enough PPE, which raises the question of what would happen to the absentee rate at this facility if a pandemic occurred. The hospital disagrees with the employees’ contention. It’s a though provoking blog post.

Watch out for the ‘E’ in your RACE procedures

As you probably know, the RACE acronym standards for Rescue, Alarm, Confine, and Extinguish/Evacuate.

That last part about what exactly “E” stands for may have some bearing on how surveyors [more]

ILSMs are more than just construction project buffers

The practical application of interim life safety measures (ILSM) does not begin and end with construction or renovation projects. Rather, ILSMs should be considered (not necessarily implemented) for Life Safety Code (LSC) deficiencies in general.

Any time you have an LSC deficiency, [more]

NFPA reference that allows wall storage within 18 inches of sprinklers

Hi everyone, it’s Scott Wallask, and I was just on the ASHE e-mail group talking about 18-inch clearance requirements for sprinklers in storage areas. The question of storage along walls seems to come up a lot.

As many of you know, there is an exception for perimeter walls that allows you to forgo the 18-inch clearance [more]

New Webinar series offers core infection control training

If the abbreviations MRSA, MDRO, and C. diff. are in your vocabulary, you may want to check out HCPro’s upcoming Webcast series on infection control training that starts next week.

Infection Prevention Core Training, Part 1: Meeting the Challenge of Multidrug-Resistant Organisms (MDROs) takes place on Wednesday, July 15, at 1 p.m. Eastern time. You can also purchase a bundle package that includes all three of our infection control Webcasts at a savings.

Please pass this on to your infection control folks, too, if you think they’d be interested.

Be wary of MSDS exemption for consumer cleaning products

My colleagues and I had a discussion recently about an OSHA reference for when material safety data sheets (MSDS) are not required when staff members use everyday consumer cleaning products.

This comes from OSHA’s hazard communications standard (1910.1200), in which [more]

Staff training for ILSMs must mirror the risks involved

When it comes to interim life safety measures (ILSM) under LS.01.02.01, poor staff education can result in some exposure during survey, minimally as a direct impact finding. Problems can also lead to conditional and preliminary denial of accreditation from The Joint Commission.

The means of providing ILSM education, while largely self-determined, need to [more]

No BMP coming in 2010, says George Mills

Hi everyone, it’s Scott Wallask. I got a chance to ask George Mills, senior engineer at The Joint Commission, about the future of the building maintenance program (BMP). Mills spoke at a Joint Commission Resources audio conference on Wednesday.

Mills said there is no plan [more]