The Dangers of Improper Pressurization and Ventilation

Bryan Connors | October 2, 2018

Healthcare-acquired infections aren’t just dangerous to patients — they can also be very costly for the facilities in question. Since procedures and processes that are high risk for infection are performed in places like operating rooms and central processing, ensuring proper pressurization and ventilation to avoid infection is a matter of life and death. The...

BSL-2 Plus: When and How to Implement It in the Research Environment

Anthony Troiano | September 14, 2018

Biosafety Level 2 Plus (BSL-2+) is the common term for laboratories where work with microorganisms is conducted in a BSL-2 laboratory with biosafety practices and procedures that are typically found at BSL-3. The need for this hybrid approach is on the rise in recent years due to increased research with viral vectors, arboviruses, and other...

Oil Spill Prevention and Compliance: Does the SPCC Rule Apply to Your Facility?

Cindee Campisano | August 27, 2018

Typically, when we think about the dangers of oil spills, we think of mass quantities of oil affecting large bodies of water. However, effective oil spill protection involves thinking much broader and smaller. In fact, just one single pint of oil spilled into a body of water can damage up to an acre of an...

Value of the Design Review: Cutting Costs in the Beginning Can Cost More Later

Michael Della Barba | August 3, 2018

Researchers have put the average cost of construction rework at roughly 4 to 6 percent of a project’s total cost—and closer to 9 percent upon factoring in overhead costs. Too often rework is the result of an overlooked omission on the early drawings, something minute that isn’t addressed by a design team focused on the...

Construction Air Quality Monitoring for Higher Education

Matt Fragala | June 28, 2018

Putting a real-time air quality monitoring plan in place prior to a complicated demolition or interior renovation project can give universities an additional layer of assurance that they’re protecting sensitive populations in the area. Too often plans to control dust emission on demolition or renovation projects get overlooked. Once demolition has begun—and complaints of dust...

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

Matt Fragala | 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,...

Tips for Avoiding Healthcare Construction Site Contamination

Bryan Connors | 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...

How to Protect Your Hospital From Legionella Growth

Bryan Connors | 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...

Commissioning is Critical to Validating Containment in the Biosafety Level-3 (BSL-3) Environment

Michael Della Barba | 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...

The Importance of Hospital Infection Control — and What Facility Managers Need to Do About It

Bryan Connors | 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...