Audioconference feedback: I'm a pushy SOB
Howdy folks --
First off, I want to thank everyone who tuned into Tuesday audioconference, "Steer Clear of the Top EC Citations," where my colleague Brad Keyes and I discussed various compliance activities associated with troublesome EC standards.
First off, I want to thank everyone who tuned into Tuesday audioconference, "Steer Clear of the Top EC Citations," where my colleague Brad Keyes and I discussed various compliance activities associated with troublesome EC standards.
There were lots of great questions and discussion. My favorite part is the Q&A--I'd much rather help folks directly.
I also want to give props to the good folks at St. Cloud Regional Medical Center in St. Cloud, FL. They gave me a space and took care of every conceivable comfort--without them, I would probably have had to call from a phone booth at the Orlando airport. Thanks a million!
One interesting thing (of many) that came up this afternoon (beyond the exhortations of both Brad and I for the audience to conduct some hazard rounds this afternoon) was the relatively small number of folks that indicated they were having challenges with EC.5.40 compliance.
I also want to give props to the good folks at St. Cloud Regional Medical Center in St. Cloud, FL. They gave me a space and took care of every conceivable comfort--without them, I would probably have had to call from a phone booth at the Orlando airport. Thanks a million!
One interesting thing (of many) that came up this afternoon (beyond the exhortations of both Brad and I for the audience to conduct some hazard rounds this afternoon) was the relatively small number of folks that indicated they were having challenges with EC.5.40 compliance.
Now it may be that bigger challenges were luring elsewhere, but I did want to take a moment to emphasize the importance of making sure your life safety systems and equipment maintenance processes were up to snuff.
Brad and I have discussed at length our experiences doing client work in which there were just enough "holes" in the documentation to trip folks up, putting them into RFI territory. There are a lot of EPs under EC.5.40, a number of which are "A" EPs, which means if the surveyor finds one instance of noncompliance, you flunk the EP, and potentially the standards.
I would encourage you to pull out that old Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO) accreditation manual, dust it off, go through the list of EPs, and make sure that you can succinctly account for each of those elements (and all the little sub-elements lurking about).
Push back on your vendors, too. Don't settle for, "Yeah, we tested all of them." You need to be able to demonstrate compliance in a measurable fashion.
Also (and I've been running into this a bit of late as well), if you are managing these processes in-house, make sure that the folks responsible understand all the component pieces under EC.5.40. The components are frequently not simple, and sometimes not as straightforward as one would presume.
So, what are you waiting for? Crack those books!
Thanks again for listening to our audiconference, and stay tuned for more . . .
There are no comments for this entry.
[Login to www.hospitalsafetycenter.com to Add Blog Comments]