The use of infection control risk assessments (ICRAs) during healthcare construction projects has been a work in progress spanning several decades.
ICRA 2.0: Eliminating Guesswork for Safer Healthcare Renovations
By JANET HAAS, PhD, RN, CIC, Principal Consulting Epidemiologist, Innovative Infection Prevention
Healthcare Construction Recovery: Managing Past Uncertainty
Healthcare contractors, facilities managers and others tasked with keeping healthcare renovation projects on schedule and on budget have had their hands full. Yet despite the challenges wrought by inflation, supply chain issues and labor shortages, there are reasons to be hopeful and strategies you can use to thrive through the uncertain year ahead.
Who oversees ICRA guidelines for hospital construction?
Hospitals typically employ safety personnel to prioritize patient safety and to ensure that doctors, nurses and staff can do their jobs in a safe environment.
What is a Class A Fire Rating?
What Class A Fire Rating Means & Why It Matters The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) specifies a burn test (E84) to determine surface burning and smoke generation characteristics of materials used in interior construction. A Class A fire rating represents the highest rating achievable, indicating a flame spread of 0-25 and smoke… Read more »
What is an Airborne Infection Isolation Room (AIIR)?
What is an AIIR? Commonly called a negative pressure isolation room, an airborne infection isolation room (AIIR) is a single-occupancy patient-care room designed to isolate airborne pathogens to a safe containment space. Typically used during healthcare renovation projects, AIIRs leverage negative pressure and a tight envelope, so contaminated air cannot escape to other parts of… Read more »
What is a Fire-Rated Wall?
What Comprises a Fire-Rated Wall? Designed to contain fire and smoke for a predetermined amount of time, fire-rated walls are part of a building’s passive fire protection system. Whether permanent or temporary, these walls are inspected against applicable code by the appropriate regulatory authorities, with the goal of preventing fire from spreading from one part… Read more »
Healthcare Construction Lessons Learned From 2021: Reader Favorites
Welcome to 2022! As we kick off the New Year, let’s give a quick nod to some of the most relevant topics covered over the past 12 months. Following are the Top Five blog posts that resonated most with our growing audience of commercial contractors, project managers, facilities managers, infection preventionists, and others tasked with… Read more »
California Gives Thumbs-Up to FireblockWall
In December, our FireblockWall™ solution received OPM approval from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI, formerly known as the Office of Statewide Health Planning & Development, or OSHPD). HCAI’s allowance applies to temporary construction barriers, when approved for a specific location, use and compliance.
The ‘New Unpredictability’ (And How Contractors Are Managing It)
Today’s occupied renovation contractors are experiencing a new level of unpredictability: supply chain inconsistencies and unforeseen price escalation, building owner uncertainties and schedule changes, labor shortages and unprecedented gross margin challenges. Exactly the kind of big-picture outlook you’d expect to make contractors eye small-but-meaningful changes that could take some of the sting out of their… Read more »