PCBs on Campus: What Colleges and Universities Need to Know About This Emerging Environmental Concern

  |  May 14, 2018

As an institution of higher education, you’re focused on protecting the health and safety of your students, faculty and staff — all while maintaining the quality of your campus environment. But now, on campuses across the US, there is growing anxiety about potential health concerns from an old contaminant found in building materials: polychlorinated biphenyls,...
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Tips for Avoiding Healthcare Construction Site Contamination

  |  April 20, 2018

Construction is an inevitability at healthcare facilities. Improvements and updates need to be made and construction can be a complex — and potentially dangerous — process within hospitals. Any size construction project can risk exposing patients to dust and mold spores, noise, vibrations, odors or chemicals. Guide to Infection Prevention and Control within the Physical...
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How to Protect Your Hospital From Legionella Growth

  |  March 14, 2018

Between 2011 and 2014, 29 patients at the Veterans Administration hospital in Pittsburgh, PA were diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease, with confirmation of at least five of the cases acquired at the hospital. The Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General later tied the deadly outbreak to deficiencies in the water system. Records show that not only...
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Commissioning is Critical to Validating Containment in the Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) Environment

  |  March 7, 2018

Design standards, biosafety level criteria, and performance requirements are continually evolving to keep pace with the rapidly changing technologies used in Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) laboratories. For BSL-3 laboratory mechanical systems, the ventilation and specific design features are vital to containment and protecting workers, the community, and critical research. Commissioning is an essential risk management strategy...
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The Importance of Hospital Infection Control — and What Facility Managers Need to Do About It

  |  February 5, 2018

Hospital infection control isn’t solely a responsibility for doctors and nurses. With the rising concerns surrounding healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), reducing infections in the physical environment has become an increasingly more important — and regulated — priority. Due to high-publicity outbreaks and increased scrutiny from regulatory agencies, healthcare facility managers are now joining infection control practitioners...
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