Like water for opportunistic organisms: Protecting patients through utility systems
As a wise individual once noted, “water always wins” (at risk of betraying my nerd status, you can find the entire quote here), and it seems like water in its numerous forms is giving facilities professionals a run for their money this year. From mold in an OR in the Northwest to the constant battle (or so it seems) with Legionella prevention, this is as challenging a time as I can recall for facilities. And that doesn’t even take into account the ongoing impact of minor intrusions—leaks, condensation, overflowing toilets—it is an almost endless list of troubles.
My intent was to provide the above as information, with my usual encouragement to leverage point-of-care/point-of-service staff in the early identification of trouble spots, but I’m also thinking that perhaps someone out there in the field has been able to develop an effective plan for the proactive management of water woes. Certainly, I know of folks with fairly predictable “rainy seasons” and then there are those locations in which rain is a constant threat, not to mention the intrusion of humidity by various (and sometimes nefarious) means. So, what do you do that works (recognizing that this is not a one size fits all proposition)? Do you have any useful/effective strategies you can share with the blogosphere? I generally only hear about stuff that doesn’t work, so it would be a treat indeed to tout someone’s intuitive brilliance.
As a final note for this week, those of your laboring under the yoke of TJC accreditation might do well to give the August issue of Perspectives a look (it’s become less of a regularly useful read for me, but every once in a while). In the Consistent Interpretation column/article, there’s a lot of discussion (under the guise of the Infection Control standards) of PPE use/availability/education, etc. Again, the findings are falling under the IC standards from a past survey result standpoint, but I don’t think it’s a stretch for some (or almost any) of these to be applied as Hazardous Materials & Wastes Management findings. Again, not everything applies, but I think if we’ve learned nothing else over the years, it’s the funky application of survey concepts from one are of scrutiny to another. Stranger things have happened…
Try to keep things cool over the second half of the summer!
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.