Well that stinks! Or maybe it doesn’t…

By Steve MacArthur, Hospital Safety Consultant

I guess we can file this under the “You never know what’s going to pique someone’s interest” category.

In last week’s Joint Commission E-Alert publication, there is a featured set of links to an updated FAQ regarding “Aromatherapy & Essential Oils” (for example, this one). When I first saw it, I was thinking that maybe it was going to discuss some of the intricacies of dealing with all this smelly stuff that seems to crop up in offices and other spaces (everywhere looks like a good place for a stick-up). But when I clicked through the link, I found the question revolved around whether or not aromatherapy and/or essential oils needed to be managed as medications. As usual, the response was “it depends” (admittedly, that is a very much shortened version of their response, but please feel free to click through to embrace the majesty of this FAQ), with the slightly more involved response being “it depends on how you’re using it.” I have to say that I am not typically a fan of a lot of these scents; some of the them just seem like iffy attempts at covering other odors and some of them just seem wrong, but I digress. I know there are (perhaps more than) a few organizations that have adopted a fragrance-neutral/fragrance-free environment (these days, you just don’t know how someone is going to react to various scent-sations—allergies abound), but I can definitely see some folks interpreting this as something of an endorsement of using scents as a strategic intervention.

In other news, TJC also announced the publication of a new book of safety lists, which (based on my past experiences with their book products), may or may not be the answer to your sticky challenges (I pretty much live in the “not” camp, but someone wants to try and convince me that we have a winner, I’m game). Alternatively, you might consider the 2019 edition of the HCPro Hospital Safety Trainer Toolbox, which promises so much more than a bunch of checklists. I personally kind of ebb and flow on the whole concept of checklists, primarily because I find they try to do too much (or perhaps promise too much is the more appropriate descriptor). I see those checklists that go on and on for pages and pages and I’m thinking how in (insert deity of choice)’s name do you operationalize something that big? To that point, I am often asked what I look for when I’m doing consultant survey work and my (admittedly somewhat glib) response is that I don’t look for anything in particular, but rather I look at everything. I suspect it goes back to my EVS days when I looked at things from top to bottom in a (more or less) circular fashion—pretty much looking for stuff that didn’t look right (it is very rare indeed that I find an instance of noncompliance that looks “right,” if you know what I mean). The corollary to that is that a surveyor (and I count myself among that august assemblage) is never more dangerous than when they are standing still—that’s when the little funky detail stuff comes into focus. All the divots, loaded sprinkler heads, dust animals (bunnies, dinosaurs, the lot), become more visible. A moving surveyor (unlike the moving finger…) is a very good thing!

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.