Public Reveiw of draft CSA Z8002 - Operation and Maintenance of Health Care Facilities
CSA is pleased to announce that the draft first edition of Z8002 Operation and Maintenance of Health Care Facilities is now available for Public Review.  This draft standard sets out the core requirements for managing buildings and equipment in all types of health facilities – from major teaching hospitals to stand-alone clinics.  The draft can be viewed at: http://publicreview.csa.ca/Home/Details/655.  There is a simple registration, after which you can view and comment on the draft.  The CSA Subcommittee on Operation and Maintenance of Health Care Facilities will be meeting on June 21st to consider the results of the Public Review, so would appreciate receiving your comments by June 20th at the latest. 

As a member of the Canadian Healthcare Engineeing Society this document will have a major impact on your work.  CHES is encouraging members to review the draft CSA Z8002 and provide feedback to CSA. Please indicate that you are a CHES Member when providing your comments to CSA.

The anticipated release of CSA Z7396.1-12 - Medical Gas Pipeline Systems has now become a reality and is available through the CSA on-line store.  This latest version is the continuing evolution of requirements for these life safety systems and addresses some new items including Anesthetic Gas Scavenging Systems (AGSS), Installer Qualifications, expanded focus on maintenance, and greater detail in the Annexes.

"You can't manage what you don't measure"

In 2012 CHES partnered with the American Society of Healthcare Engineers (ASHE) and the Healthcare Institute (HCI), an affiliate of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) in a healthcare facilities maintenance and operation benchmarking project called Benchmarking 2.0.

Medical gases perform a critical role in health care delivery and are used every day by millions of people in thousands of different locations such as hospitals, long term care homes, ambulances, and dental offices. Now more than ever there is a need for the installation of safe medical gas pipelines by trained installers.

Infection control during construction, renovation and maintenance of healthcare facilities has been a concern to CHES members for some time now.  The information in this field changes very quickly.  CSA has just released their newest standard…CSA Z317.13-12 in December of 2012.  While building on the philosophies of the previous editions, there is tons of new information in this latest edition.  CHES members can access the latest edition through the Membership Tools button on our website.  CSA has also revamped their Fundamentals of Infection Control during Construction, Renovation and Maintenance of Health Care Facilities course to reflect this newest information, and introduced an ALL NEW  CSA Z317.13-12:  Effective Implementation of Infection Control during Construction or Renovation of Healthcare Facilities – Practical Applications course that focuses on those areas that have been added to the new edition of the standard.  CHES members can get more information  through CSA’s website or from our representative to this committee - Gordon Burrill