Important Measures for Operational Safety of Equipment are given below:
1. There is a documented program of equipment management and the program is an integral part of the quality management program of the hospital.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
2. The hospital has an Equipment Management Committee chaired by the MS, with heads of equipment heavy departments as members and Chief maintenance engineer/Bio- medical Engineer as member secretary for efficient management of the equipment.
3. There is an Equipment Audit Committee created for the purpose of periodic evaluation of the quality of performance of all the equipments available as per the inventory of the hospital.
Image Source: unisonbiomed.files.wordpress.com
4. The hospital has an efficient Engineering Service department headed by a qualified (preferably electrical) engineer and having:
a. A biomedical equipment section headed by a qualified biomedical engineer.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
b. Workshop facility for repair and maintenance of electrical, mechanical, electronic and biomedical equipments.
c. Adequately, trained staff for ensuring maximum operational efficiency of equipment.
d. Adequate spares for all kind of equipment.
5. While installing and commissioning the equipment, due care is being given to the installation instructions such as temperature/humidity voltage level recommended.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
6. Training of the user staff in using and maintaining the equipment and periodic monitoring of their proficiency, is being done.
7. Ensuring that all instructions for correct usage of the equipment are being adhered to by the staff.
8. There is a documented program of planned preventive & breakdown maintenance of equipment with clearly specified maintenance responsibility and the same is being meticulously implemented.
9. There is a documented schedule of maintenance (daily, monthly, quarterly and annual) in r/o every equipment, the same is known to the users and is being strictly adhered to.
10. There is a procedure and schedule for recalibration of the equipments requiring periodic recalibration and it is being done at regular intervals by the authorized agency.
11. All lose/temporary electric connections have been eliminated and adequate number of switches and sockets has been provided to prevent overloading of the points and fire hazards.
12. There is a system of regular check of all electric cables, switches and sockets at fixed periodicity for detection and correction of defects, prevention of any hazards and ensuring fault free functioning.
13. There is a system of regular inspection of all patient care equipment by the biomedical engineer every equipment that has been inspected, carries a sticker bearing the date of inspection, the fitness status, the signatures of the inspecting engineer and the next due date of inspection.
If the sticker is out of date, the equipment should be assumed to be hazardous and should not be used.
14. A record of the reports of Equipment Audit Committee, along with the deficiencies detected and the corrective actions taken, is being maintained.
15. Any equipment found operationally not reliable is declared redundant and removed from the usage area until its full function and operational reliability is restored.
16. Any known hazards of any equipment are being informed to all the user staff and warning signs in the local language are displayed prominently for the information of other staff/public in the vicinity.
17. Personal protective equipment is made available for use by the staff; the staff is trained in its usage and is made to use it.