In a blog on the FacilityCare website, Brad Keyes discusses the proposed adoption of the 2012 Life Safety Code by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the changes that would come with it.
"There are a lot of changes with the 2012 edition that will affect healthcare workers in their daily activities — some changes that will relieve the hospital staff of certain burdens and some that will increase the workload of others," Keyes wrote.
He includes lists of the ways the change will lessen the workload (unoccupied rooms will be permitted to open onto an exit enclosure, such as a stairwell or passageway, provided the room is not used for storage and the entire building is sprinklered), as well as how it will add to it (annual fire-rated door and smoke compartment barrier door inspections and tests will be required).