Of all the changes coming in 2009 from The Joint Commission, the new life safety standards are drawing much of the attention.

 

EC.5.20, which currently requires hospitals to comply with the Life Safety Code through 58 references in the Statement of Conditions, will expand out to 10 new standards and 119 elements of performance as of January 1. This will raise the stakes for facilities in terms of scoring concerns, said Brad Keyes, CHSP, safety consultant with The Greeley Company, a division of HCPro in Marblehead, MA. Keyes is also a former life safety specialist with The Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO).

 

Join Keyes and Bill Koffel, president of Koffel Associates, Inc., in Elkridge, MD, on October 21 for our audio conference, “Life Safety Compliance in 2009: How to Meet The Joint Commission's New Standards.” Koffel was part of a task force that helped The Joint Commission develop the new life safety chapter.