Codes and Regulatory Compliance
What the Joint Commission Standards Consolidation Means for Healthcare Facilities
What's new with Joint Commission standards? The Joint Commission recently unveiled Accreditation 360, its most comprehensive overhaul of hospital accreditation in decades. It is designed to reduce administrative burden, clarify expectations, and elevate performance...
ASHRAE: What Does It Mean?
So you may be wondering what the abbreviation ASHRAE stands for. ASHRAE is the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. Yes, it's a mouthful, but this organization is a major player in how we heat, cool, and ventilate the built...
Survey Readiness: What Facility Managers Need to Know
If you manage a healthcare facility, you’ve probably heard the term survey readiness more times than you can count. And when you're prepping for a visit from the Joint Commission, your state's health department, or another accrediting organization, being...
Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV) Hose Connections
Do you have Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV) hose connections? If so, listen up! From my experience, these are one of the most frequently incorrectly designed, installed, and tested sprinkler devices. #NFPA25 actually requires a full-flow test from these suckers every...
Class II Standpipe Hose Connection ITM
This video definitely shows my level of Grit! And it also has a blooper in it! Did you know that Class II Standpipe Hose Connections have to be inspected quarterly AND tested annually? In this video we discuss high-level the different Classes of Standpipes and the ITM...
Sprinkler System Air Compressors
Is your sprinkler system air compressor kicking on, or are you getting a lot of low air supervisory signals? Consider a Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) strategy. We have replaced or rebuilt this compressor for our cooling tower deluge system 4X in 18-months....
Fire Dampers – ITM
Fire dampers are an essential part of a building's overall fire protection. They are a primary component in passive fire protection to help slow (hopefully stop) the spread of fire. Unfortunately, even though they are an overall simple device with very few components...
Monthly Fire Extinguisher Inspections
Have you ever been cited for your monthly fire extinguishers? Most likely it was due to something simple, like not doing a monthly inspection the month of the annual, or someone pencil-whipping the PM and not really taking the extra few seconds to check it the right...
Heat Detectors Aren’t Tested Correctly!
Do you think that your ITM Team is testing your heat detectors correctly? You might want to check! One of the most common fire alarm ITM errors is not testing non-restorable heat detectors because they can't be tested. This is FALSE! In fact, non-restorable heat...
Fire Alarm Pull Stations
Fire Alarm Pull Stations - EC.02.03.05 EP 3 We're continuing down our path for EC.02.03.05. We debated not even doing a video on pull stations because they are such simple devices, but they are tested incorrectly so often! Too many times ITM personnel will open the...
Butterfly Valve with Tamper Switch
EC.02.03.05 EP 2 - B’Fly Valve w/ Integral Tamper Switch Taking a step back to a previous post on (check the comments below) waterflows, tampers, and high-air alarm devices. There were several messages and comments requesting to go through a butterfly valve since they...
Now this is how you test duct detectors
Duct detectors are a big passion of mine because they are the most improperly tested fire alarm device based on my experience. To give you an example, I personally went and tested all the dampers and duct detectors in a new hospital 1-year after occupancy. 100% of the...
Waterflows and Tamper Switches
All about EC.02.03.05 - EP 2 - Vane and pressure type waterflows, tamper switches, and mechanical waterflow devices. Are your sprinkler and fire alarm ITM testing waterflow and tamper switches correctly? How do you know? In my experience through years of testing,...
EC.02.03.05 EP 1 Supervisory Signals
The infamous TJC EC.02.03.05 EP 1!!! This video is all about supervisory signals. Hope it helps clear up some confusion on ITM for supervisory signals!
Fire Pump Drip Rates
I’ve been catching up on questions that have been in my linked-in messages. This one is from a few months back and I responded directly to the individual, but didn’t do a video yet. This hospital’s Accrediting Organization (AO) tried to cite them for having the...
ADMINISTRATION
Let’s Get Real
Is your facilities management team prepared to overcome a catastrophic event? No, we’re not...
Organizational Alignment: How to Do It and Why It’s Important for Facility Managers
Facility management entails a vast and complex scope – budget and capital planning, design and...
Facility Managers: Avoid These Nine Common Mistakes to Get the Most Value Out of Your Training Investments
I specialize in developing and implementing training programs for facilities management teams....
EMPOWERMENT
Empowerment is Everything.
Empowerment isn't some cute, trendy #business #opportunity. It's real life, and it's part of who I...
Hammer Time
If a hammer is the only tool that you have, then everything will start to look like a nail. Don't...
Fix the Problem, Not the Person
I recently experienced a raw connection with a teammate. She allowed herself to be vulnerable with...
LEADERSHIP
A Succession Planning Roadmap for Healthcare Facility Leaders
Not sure if your facility needs a succession planning roadmap? Let’s be honest: you can’t reduce...
Leading Up
LEADING UPWARDS 2020 has given me a clear perspective on what's important and what's not. Despite...
Unmotivated or Disconnected?
Unmotivated or disconnected? If you're not receiving the feedback that you want for your team,...
OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
WON Doors
Did you know that WON doors have a quarterly preventative maintenance requirement in the...
See it to believe it
When’s the last time you took your leadership or financial analysts on a tour of your central...
Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV) Hose Connections
Do you have Pressure Reducing Valve (PRV) hose connections? If so, listen up! From my experience,...
SOFT SKILLS
Unmotivated or Disconnected?
Unmotivated or disconnected? If you're not receiving the feedback that you want for your team,...
Give and Take
How do you strike the balance between your natural leadership style versus your adapted style? Is...
Hammer Time
If a hammer is the only tool that you have, then everything will start to look like a nail. Don't...