Sunday, January 24, 2016: 1:30 PM-3:00 PM
Standards, Guidelines and Codes
Chair:
Erica Stewart, Kaiser Permanente National EH&S
Technical Committee: Environmental Health Committee
Sponsor: SSPC188
CoSponsor: 09.06 Healthcare Facilities
This seminar presents three aspects of implementing a water management plan in health-care operations, from the facility manager and infection preventionist's point of view. In healthcare organizations the water management team is a multidisciplinary group whose differing roles and responsibilities are critical to successful implementation of a plan. A roundtable discussion of the challenges and successes of implementing a plan that follows ASHRAE Standard 188P follows a brief introduction of each area of expertise.
1 The Facility Manager Perspective
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John D'Angelo, P.E., Northwestern University |
Healthcare facilities managers are already required under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Conditions of Participation to identify and manage all facilities related risks to patients and staff. Many facilities have already adopted an “all hazards” approach that uses an interdisciplinary team to identify and categorize risks from a probability and severity perspective, and to manage those risks deemed most critical through appropriate mitigation strategies. Development of a risk matrix and a mitigation prioritization strategy will be discussed. Additionally, resource requirements and the methodology to demonstrate compliance to activities having jurisdiction will be described.
2 The Infection Preventionist Perspective
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Linda Dickey, University of California at Irvine |
Infection prevention programs provide internal expertise to assist in preventing the spread of infection within health care facilities among patients, staff and visitors. Examples of Legionella outbreaks associated with health care will be provided to illustrate potential risk factors within these settings. To provide a broader perspective beyond Legionella on causative pathogens for health care associated infections (HAIs), the current incidence of HAIs in the U.S. will be described. An illustration of how the risk assessment process and water management plan outlined in Standard 188 may assist health care organizations in prospectively preventing infection occurrence also will be discussed.
3 The Industrial Hygienist Perspective
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Megan Canright, Forensic Analytical Consulting Services |
It is a common misconception that the expertise of the industrial hygienist (IH) on a water management team is solely to collect environmental data. The education, training and experience of the IH places him/her in a unique position to contribute to the design of the risk assessment process and sampling plans, and assist in the identification, implementation, and evaluation of control measures. The presenter will provide a review of considerations for all phases of the risk assessment process including design, implementation, interpretation, and control. “Lessons learned” will be presented using examples from water risk assessments in actual healthcare settings.