News Headlines | | Last March 15, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) waived... Treating patients with behavioral health issues such as substance abuse and social challenges such... Decreased rates of cancer screening during the coronavirus pandemic could lead to a significant... Mac's Safety Space: Once again (I’m thinking there’s no surprise to this), the public health emergency wrought by the impact of COVID-19 on just about anything you’d care to name has been extended. | | |
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance | | Showerheads, faucets, and spigots: Maintaining them and keeping them operating smoothly is key to both savings for your healthcare facility and care quality for your patients. Plus, if you don’t, CMS, accrediting organizations, and other regulatory agencies will come at you hard. To talk about the physical and mechanical maintenance of healthcare water fixtures, we spoke with Charles Bragdon, founder and president of the California-based Water Saver Solutions, which works with healthcare systems to improve water savings, efficiency, and quality. His company also offers fixture-specific information and services at https://fixturecare.com. It’s common knowledge that healthcare water systems can be a source of healthcare-acquired infections (HAI) if not cleaned properly. Just ask any of the facilities that found themselves dealing with a Legionella outbreak among patients. Or you can ask CMS and other regulators who will be hunting for traces of bacteria, mold, and fungi in your water supply. They will inform you if they find any, and you will not be happy about it. We spoke with Michael Castro, MPH, director of services at Special Pathogens Laboratory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, about infection control for water fixtures and what steps healthcare facilities can take to improve. | | |
Healthcare Safety Leader | | Many hospitals and clinics struggle with the same physical environment (PE) topics, such as ligature risk, facility assessments, and training staff on PE requirements. At the 2020 DNV GL Virtual Conference, viewers learned about these issues from PE experts Randy Julian, CHFM, CHSP, CHOP, and Jim Faze, MBA, CHOP. Faze and Julian are accreditation specialists for DNV GL with decades of experience between them. | | |
Medical Environment Update | | Here are some tips, taken from accounts after the Baltimore protests over the death of Freddie Gray in 2015 as well as other hospitals’ experience in other disasters, to help you prepare for a possible riot or other civil unrest: | | |
| The Complete Guide to Laboratory Safety, Fifth Edition | | The Complete Guide to Laboratory Safety, Fifth Edition, consolidates regulations from all relevant agencies, including OSHA, The Joint Commission, CAP, CLSI, DOT, and state health departments. This book also offers customizable policies, procedures, and checklists to avoid costly fines and enhance your compliance program. The newest edition of this proven guide includes a brand-new chapter on laboratory safety culture, plus new content on: The hierarchy of controls The four biosafety lab levels and lab coats Reporting lab injuries Lab coat cleaning, comfort, and materials Bloodborne pathogen training Hazardous waste management The generator improvement rule The EPA hazardous waste pharmaceutical rule And more! Order now!
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Hospital Safety Newsletters | | Sign up for our monthly newsletters, and get an article each week! Healthcare Life Safety Compliance This award-winning monthly resource simplifies confusing code references so you can better protect your facility. You need Healthcare Life Safety Compliance to keep you up to date on the latest changes to the Life Safety Code (LSC), as well as The Joint Commissions Life Safety standards, NFPA codes, and related fire protection provisions to ensure the safety of patients, visitors, and employees. Hospital Safety Leader With a Hospital Safety Center membership, you?ll gain complete access to HSL, a16-page monthly publication that provides safety professionals with crucial information and clear-cut guidance on how to improve and ensure hospital safety. Medical Environment Update Keeping safety professionals up to speed with the always-changing policies of OSHA, CDC, EPA, and other healthcare regulatory agencies. Discover workplace health and safety tips written with facilities like yours in mind. | | |
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