Fire Safety in Hospitals, Medical Centers
Hospitals are places of safety for newborns or elderly, and everyone in between. It’s why fire safety in hospitals and healthcare facilities is so stringent and rigorously enforced.
Safety regulations require fire risk assessments, fire safety policies and an operational strategy for implementing them––including rehearsed plans for the safe evacuation of patients, staff and visitors. That initial assessment starts with a close examination of the possible risks against hospitals’ occupants, structure, resources and continuity of operations, and there are a number of assessment methodologies to understand the potential threats, identify the assets to be protected, and how best to mitigate against risk.
Design teams take a multi-disciplinary approach to assessing hazards––from power failure to cyber attack, from civil disorder to fire and explosive detonation––and arrive at risk assessments that, hopefully, illuminate how that building should be designed, built and safely operated. But, the size and complexity of modern hospitals means that the risk of fire cannot be entirely avoided. What’s important is that it is detected quickly, contained and then dealt with.
The history of fire safety in hospitals and elsewhere, in the USA and internationally, has been about “codifying by catastrophe”––only improving regulations once a fatal fire has taken place.
The most significant fire, in terms of new regulation, was the St Anthony’s Hospital disaster in Effingham, Illinois in 1949, which killed over 70 people, including 11 newborn babies, which clearly showed the need for more regulations regarding fire safety in hospitals.
From that disaster came regulations on flame-retardant materials and effective barriers to contain fires at the source, and a new recognition that containment was an integral part in minimizing fire risk.
Fire regulations were again tightened following a 1961 hospital fire in Hartford, Connecticut, which was caused by a discarded cigarette that was dropped down a trash chute and 16 people died. Other changes to regulation were new rules on smoking on healthcare premises, and further requirements on fire-retardant materials, including wallpaper and ceiling tiles were instated.
Underlining the importance of containment, an intern at the hospital said that those who lived had the doors to their rooms closed. Those who died had their doors open.
However, the deadliest hospital fire in the U.S. took place at the Cleveland Clinic in May 1929 when over 120 people died, caused by nitrocellulose x-ray film being exposed to the heat of a light bulb. This caused explosions and the creation of poisonous gas.
Following this, again codifying by catastrophe, Cleveland issued all fire fighters with gas masks and, nationally, new standards were introduced for the storage of hazardous materials, including x-ray film.
Among other tragedies was a 1950 fire at Mercy Hospital, Iowa, a unit for mental patients. The fire, again perhaps caused by a discarded cigarette, claimed some 40 lives, and was able to spread rapidly in an old building. Containment, again.
Although many lessons have been learned over the years regarding fire safety in hospitals, not all of them have been implemented in other parts of the world. In a hospital fire in Russia in 2013, nearly 40 people died––in a wooden building that had been previously ordered to close because of fire safety concerns. A further 38 died last year in a separate hospital fire near Moscow.
Most fires start with the smallest of incidents––commonly, a dropped cigarette or electrical short-circuit. Others have a more bizarre cause; for example, an operating theatre at Ashford Hospital, England, had to be temporarily closed last year because a member of staff overcooked food in a microwave oven, filling corridors with smoke.
But, if a fire does break out, it needs to be suppressed––with a sprinkler system, for example––and contained, which is where specialist glazing systems have an important role to play. These systems can contain a fire for up to 120 minutes––long enough for safe evacuation and emergency response.
In a hospital environment, where ambient light has an important influence on staff morale and patient recovery, glazing systems can have both a functional and aesthetic purpose: helping in the recovery process and, if a fire breaks out, ensuring that it is contained at source.
Fire Extinguisher Barcode Inspection Software
Fire Extinguisher Barcode Inspection Software system can be used to manage monthly fire extinguisher inspections, annual inspections and 6 year and 12 year inspections and also general fire safety inspections. Allowing Managers to record safety observations while performing facility tours which can improve overall fire safety. A Fire Extinguisher Inspection Software system that can create corrective actions as a result of inspection failures and allocate these corrective active actions to the appropriate persons, with deadlines for resolution will greatly reduce the time, effort and cost of managing NFPA inspections. Implementing a Fire Extinguisher Barcode System, where users scan each fire extinguisher using a Mobile Fire Extinguisher Inspection Software App aids with compliance with NFPA and The joint Commission and other Authorities having Jurisdiction(ADJ’s) within Universities, Colleges, Hospitals, Medical Centers, Manufacturing, Oil and Gas and many other sectors.
Easy to Use – Fire Extinguisher Barcode System
IMEC Inspection Software is am easy to use fire extinguisher barcode system which will schedule, manage, track and report on any type of inspection, including Facility, Equipment, People etc. Use Cases include fire extinguisher barcode system, equipment or asset inspection system or facilities inspection software. When used as a fire extinguisher barcode system Inspections are performed via the Mobile app which is available on iOS, Android and Windows devices. The user identifies the inspection point by scanning a barcode, or picking from a list based on location. The Mobile App which is part of the fire extinguisher barcode system will then display the list of custom Forms or Checklists. The fire extinguisher barcode system inspections can be performed offline if no internet connection is available.
The completed Inspections are uploaded to the cloud, where they can be viewed from the IMEC fire extinguisher barcode system Web Portal. The custom-built Forms/Checklist determines what response is a Pass / Fail, what weighting to apply to a response, and in the case of a failure who to assign a Corrective Action to.
The IMEC Mobile Safety App can also be used as a Fire Door Inspection App and with the Web based flexible Forms Manager the solution can be used as a Fire Door Inspection Software Solution also. Fire Door Inspection Software is used is large facilities with large quantities of Fire Doors like Hospitals, Universities and also Cruise Ships.
Fire Life Safety Inspection Software Solution
IMEC Inspection Software can be deployed as a full Fire Life Safety Inspection Software solution that can be used to manage an organization’s full range of fire and life safety inspections. The IMEC Fire Life Safety Inspection Software can manage any type of inspection, use cases include Fire Doors, Fire Pumps, Eyewash Stations, Emergency Lights, Emergency Showers, Grease Traps, AED’s and many more. The IMEC Fire Life Safety Inspection Software can manage any type safety equipment or asset inspection. The user identifies the inspection point by scanning a barcode, or picking from a list based on location. The Mobile App will then display the list of custom Forms or Checklists.
EH&S Inspection Software
IMEC’s EH&S Inspection Software can be used to manage any type of EHS Inspection and allows manager to record safety observations while performing facility tours which can improve overall workplace safety. This EH&S Inspection Software solution that can create corrective actions as a result of inspection failures for inspections performed using the Safety Inspection Software Mobile App. Corrective actions are allocated to the appropriate persons, with deadlines for resolution which will greatly reduce the time, effort and cost of managing compliance inspections. Implementing an EH&S Inspection software solution, where users using the Safety Inspection Software Mobile App can easily perform inspections in the field aids compliance, reduces risk and standardizes the inspection process within your organization.
Asset Inspection Management Software
IMEC’s Asset Inspection Management Software can be used to manage any type of Asset Inspection. This Asset Inspection Management Software solution can create corrective actions as a result of asset inspection failures for inspections. Corrective actions are allocated to the appropriate persons, with deadlines for resolution which will greatly reduce the time, effort and cost of managing compliance inspections. Implementing an Asset Inspection management software solution, where users using a Mobile App can easily perform inspections in the field aids compliance, reduces risk and standardizes the inspection process within your organization.
IMEC Technologies provides Safety Management Software to increase worker safety and aid compliance. IMEC’s Safety Management Software will manage inspections and audits, provides hazard identification, incident reporting, management of corrective and preventative actions from generation to closure. IMEC provides lock out tag out software solutions that will allow users to create lockout tagout procedures using an intuitive Mobile App and Manage Lockout Tagout Procedures, also the Review and Execution of those Lockout Tagout Procedures using the Mobile App. Annual Lockout Tagout Procedures audits are conducted using a Mobile App. The Mobile Inspection App allow users to perform inspections and audits, for example the system can be used as a Fire Extinguisher Barcode Inspection Software system to manage monthly fire extinguisher inspections and general fire safety inspections and also to record safety observations and manage corrective actions, anywhere and anytime. The solution can be used as a fire extinguisher barcode inspection software system or life safety inspection system to aid compliance in Higher Education, Healthcare, Industrial and Commercial Organizations. Benefits from a Fire Extinguisher Barcode System include the elimination of paperwork and reducing the burden of compliance with regulations such as NFPA, The Joint Commission. The Mobile App can also be used as a Fire Door Inspection App and with the flexible Forms Manager the solution can be used as a Fire Door Inspection Software Solution also. Fire Door Inspection Software is used is large facilities with large quantities of Fire Doors like Hospitals, Universities and also Cruise Ships. The Incident Reporting App allows users to easily and quickly report incidents, hazards and near-misses, these are then sent to the appropriate people for action and are managed to closure. Web Apps provide features such as, setup, management, scheduling tools, analysis, reporting and dashboards etc with the ability to report incidents to government bodies such as OSHA and RIDDOR. HazMat T&T is a hazardous waste management software solution designed for Environmental Service Companies and companies who generate a large quantity of hazardous waste. The solution tracks hazardous waste from cradle to grave aiding compliance, providing accurate waste inventory, increasing waste handling efficiency, reducing risk and also helps manage waste costs. HazMat T&T Hazardous Waste Management Software can be deployed in a number of deployment scenarios, from Large Hazardous Waste Generators, tracking their hazardous waste at their site to Environmental Service and Waste Management Companies using it track and manage hazardous waste at transfer and disposal sites. For more information visit our website www.imectechnologies.com