ASHE Seeks Comments on NFPA 99 Revision
The American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) is accepting comments and suggestions on the revision of NFPA 99, Standard for Health Care Facilities.
The
American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) is accepting comments and suggestions on the revision of
NFPA 99, Standard for Health Care Facilities. NFPA is undergoing a full review and rebuilding of NFPA 99 to produce an integrated document that is scalable for a variety of care settings, while being robust enough to address existing and the emerging risk management needs of each healthcare delivery methodology.
Over the past year, numerous ASHE workgroups have reviewed the existing language in NFPA 99 and proposed revisions to modify or delete existing language and to propose new language. Among the primary topics on which ASHE is seeking comments are electrical Equipment, electrical systems, emergency management, environmental safety, gas equipment, HVAC distribution, technology, and medical-gas distribution systems.
“The similarity between the NFPA standard Health Care Facilities, and the physical plant attributes of healthcare facilities held to that standard, are striking,” according to ASHE. “Just as many hospitals today are a combination of multiple buildings cobbled together over a number of years, the NFPA standard originated as number of individual pamphlets that were cobbled together to form a single comprehensive document in the early 1980s. Just as building complexes can be cobbled together without creating a truly integrated set of buildings or systems, so were these documents combined without creating a fully integrated standard. Just as many healthcare organizations have to make the tough decision and consider building a new healthcare facility or a complete infrastructure renewal to encourage growth within an integrated environment of care."
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