The Fountains of Youth and Water Management Programs

By Steve MacArthur, Hospital Safety Consultant

As a follow to last week’s item about water management programs, I know a lot of folks are not using their drinking fountains (or as we know them in the Boston areas, bubblers—pronounced “bubblahs”—I was hoping to find an audio link, but if you doubt the veracity of that pronunciation, this sort of backs it up). How are you managing those as a function of your water management program?  I’ve seen a lot of these devices sitting idle (and not just in healthcare) and looks like they may be sitting that way for a while. Are you periodically having someone go around to operate them or have you modified other practices to keep an eye on these? Not quite sure why it took me so long to think about this—perhaps it’s the ever-growing drinking fountains covered in plastic. The other question I had in this regard is whether any of you are using this as an opportunity to remove them completely? Depending on the design of your building, these are sometimes placed in a way that reduces the clear width of an egress pathway or two. This might be the best opportunity evah to get rid of them.

Of course, the other dynamic that comes into play (though perhaps less in healthcare than in other industries) is the whole notion of how to manage facilities that are experiencing reduced utilization. Perhaps you have a business office or the equivalent, and you have folks working remotely or some other variation on the theme of forced vacancy. If that’s the case (or could become the case if COVID persists), then you might find the following information worth checking. Fortunately, resources continue to provide guidance in this regard and I don’t think there’s anyone among us that would wish to endure a breakout of waterborne pathogens in the midst of the current climate.

Check out the following resources:

Hope all is well and you folks are staying safe. See you next time!

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 the author of HCPro's Hospital Safety Director's Handbook and is contributing editor for Healthcare Safety Leader. Contact Steve at stevemacsafetyspace@gmail.com.