Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’, keep those (fire) door-ies rollin’…
By Steve MacArthur, Hospital Safety Consultant
Just because I am fascinated by all sorts of stuff (and I suspect that, since you’re still with me on this, you might be interested in all sorts of stuff, too), I came across a blog post regarding the ins and outs (or perhaps the more appropriate description would be “ups and downs”) of rolling steel fire doors. To be honest, I had no real appreciation of the complexities of these devices, though I certainly l know that anything in their path once activated is likely get a pretty good bruising. That said, I think once you check out the components pieces, you will see that there’s much that can go astray from a mechanical standpoint and remains an important part of your fire door inspection, testing, and maintenance process.
As another example of interesting “stuff” is a product that can be used to protect sprinkled areas that do not have suspended ceilings. I don’t know that everyone is going to have a ton of use for such a product (I first encountered it at an airport terminal in which renovation activities had resulted in the removal of the suspended ceiling but they still needed to provide sprinkler protection), but since it is classified by UL to meet NFPA 13 (recognizing that even the tenets of NFPA 13 can be nudged in any directions by an AHJ), it might just make your life a little easier if you need it. At the very least, check out the short video to get a sense of the product—it’s pretty cool. And if anybody out there has used the product, I’d be keen to hear about your experiences, so please do.
Finally, since I’d hate to let a week go by without some regulatory folderol and hoo-hah, our friends in Chicago have announced some performance element changes for hospitals and other organizations having fluoroscopy services. The new requirements are supposed to be implemented starting January 1, 2021. In looking over the changes, I don’t know that this is of earth-shattering impact (no asteroid, this) but it’s probably worth checking out to ensure that you’re in compliance.
That’s it for this week. Hope you all are well and staying safe. On to November!
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.