2020 starts with a whimper…probably mine!
A fairly brief opening salvo for the New Year: I am hoping it will continue to be difficult to come up with material for this space because that will likely mean we’ve reached something of an equilibrium relative to funky compliance stuff. After the last decade, I think we can probably all use a bit of a rest from the madness…
For those of you keeping track of the goings on in Chicago, you’ve no doubt received any number of exhortations over the past couple of weeks to check out the “new” (the “improved” is somewhat implied, but if you order in the next five minutes, they’ll double your order!) Joint Commission website. I will say that they have definitely spiffed up the look of the place—everything looks bigger and brighter. But (and isn’t there almost always one of them?), in retooling things, some of the less recent links to material are no longer working. To that point, I had saved a couple of links to share this week, and now that they don’t work, I can’t quite say what it was that I found of particular interest (shame on me for not leaving a better trail of bread crumbs, though perhaps those pesky birds…). So, if you do some archival digging in this space (and perhaps others as well), you may find yourself at the business end of an error message indicating a non-functioning link. Having said that, if you should follow a link from Mac’s Safety Space that dumps you somewhere in the ether, please let me know and I will either try to find the “current” whereabouts of the information you’re looking for or provide some level of analysis to assist you in your efforts.
As an almost completely unrelated item to finish this up for the week, I wanted to bring to your attention a recent finding relating to space heaters that might prove timely given this age of polar vortices (vortexes?) and all manner of cold weather. The finding relates to a portable space heater in a nurse station, with the enjoinder that, for the purposes of this performance element, nurse stations are considered patient treatment areas (looping back on the prohibition of portable space heaters in smoke compartments containing sleeping rooms and patient treatment areas). You can have them in offices that meet the definition of non-sleeping rooms, which are occupied by staff and separated from the corridor and are permitted to have portable space heaters (the heating elements must not exceed 212°F). I’m sure you know where the folks with the cold feet live, so make sure you keep a close eye on the heater situation.
About the Author: Steve MacArthur is a safety consultant with The Greeley Company in Danvers, Mass. He brings more than 30 years of healthcare management and consulting experience to his work with hospitals, physician offices, and ambulatory care facilities across the country. He is also a contributing editor for Healthcare Safety Leader. Contact Steve at stevemacsafetyspace@gmail.com.