Putting up a privacy screen or curtain in your Los Angeles healthcare facility may seem like a good idea, but according to the Life Safety Code (LSC), you may be in violation of fire safety rules. Here are the basic facts on LSC Section 19.2.3.3.
Means of egress and privacy screens
If you run a nursing home, plastic surgery clinic, or other medical facility that necessitates discreet patient areas, then it’s important to understand the basic fire safety laws that pertain to your current medical building construction layout. For your healthcare facility, this means that all means of egress, such as corridors or exit paths must be free of any obstruction, and easily viewed by patients and staff. In the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) publication of the Life Safety Code, section 19.2.3.3 clearly states: “All corridors must be maintained in clear and unobstructed width.” For exit doors, the minimum width is 32 inches. To provide your patients a comfortable, discreet space for resting, recuperating, or awaiting treatment, make sure all exit signs, lights, and doorways are always clear and accessible.What constitutes an obstruction?
More than you may realize; if you have privacy curtains between patient areas that are attached to an overhead grid railing, then that violates fire safety, according to the Life Safety Code. In an emergency, hanging curtains may hinder your ability to find an exit quickly. Similarly, stand-alone portable room screens that may be used to divide an area into separate cubicles are not permitted in areas that would obstruct a doorway.Privacy curtain alternatives
So, hanging curtains or folding room screens are out, according to the NFPA. But you can still give your patients the privacy they require without compromising their safety. As a healthcare facility manager, you are permitted to install privacy doors that swing on a side hinge, provided that they open in the direction of the exit way, not against it.Life Safety code Frequently seen violations
Violations that safety inspectors often see when visiting hospitals:- medical equipment that is left outside the patient rooms, in hallways or doorways, with the exception of crash carts that require immediate access
- locks on overnight patient doors
- locks that prevent a patient from leaving a room
- hospital exit doors that require a key, latch, tool or special knowledge
- hospital exit doors that are less than 32 inches wide
- patient rooms that don’t have easy access to exit corridors
- interior finishings (walls, ceiling) that don’t meet the Life Safety Code (Class A or B)
- floor finishings that don’t meet the Life Safety Code (Class 1)