Healthcare facilities have special requirements when it comes to electrical safety training, because the number of people who are at risk in such an institution is quite high. Listed below are some facts on the particularities of electrical safety training for hospitals, which anyone should know.

– Heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and lighting take up the largest share of hospital electrical bills. Because these systems run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, they are highly sensitive and have to be checked on a regular basis. Also, hospitals are required to have backup generators that can keep systems going in case of blackouts.

– Electrical hazards within a healthcare facility include ignition or explosion of flammable substances, electric shocks due to ground breaking, hazard relating to patients and failure of electrical equipment.

Depending on how they affect the victim, electrical hazards can be classified as micro-shock hazards (when the point of contact is away from the heart) and macro-shock hazards (when the point of contact is near, on, or inside the heart).

– Certain patients have higher risks of becoming the victim of an electrical accident. For example, patients whose EKG is measured through the use an electrode inserted in the cardiac chambers or patients on whom fluid-filled catheters are used.

– Some departments of the hospital are more prone to electrical accidents. For example, the intensive care unit and coronary care units have a higher frequency of injuries and deaths caused by electrical causes due to the numerous electrical devices used in such units.

– Electrical safety requirements for hospitals include the use of protective devices, such as residual current devices and other type of equipment that can monitor current leakage.

– What is more, it is advised against using extension leads or double adaptors in all patient areas, as they may cause overloading and excessive current leakage. They can be used in non-patient areas, but definitely not within care units.

– Since even a low voltage shock can prove deadly for some patients, the medical personnel has the obligation to check all equipment used, even if it is brand new from the factory. You have to check all the wires, cables, and plugs, and make sure that they are in perfect working conditions.

– Due to daily use, medical equipment is subject to wear and tear and because of this, every medical device has to be checked from time to time.

– Some hospitals have a red tag service, which implies tagging any defective equipment with a red label, in order to have it immediately picked up and taken for repair. Never attempt to repair the equipment yourself, using home-made tricks such as adhesive tape. Any defective equipment has to be reported to the maintenance staff or to security.

Electrical safety training is especially important for employees of healthcare facilities. Patients, some of them in serious condition, do not have the possibility to defend themselves from electrical accidents, so it falls under the responsibility of medical staff to ensure their safety.

For more information, please visit our Electrical Safety Training website.

For more information, please visit our Electrical Safety Training website http://www.hipaaexams.com/electrical-safety.html

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Category: Advice
Keywords: Electrical Safety Training