Maintaining a well-run medical facility takes a village. From day-to-day care to facility upkeep and safety protocols, we know that there’s a lot to manage. While fire safety systems may not be top of mind under “normal” circumstances, they’re an essential safety component for your patients and staff.
Because some patients might be vulnerable or difficult to evacuate efficiently, it’s essential that you stay up to date with your fire safety inspections. Regular inspections and maintenance ensure that your alarms and suppression systems work as intended when you need them.
Maintaining safety accreditation from Joint Commission, Health Facilities Accreditation Program, or DNV Healthcare is one of the best things you can do for your medical facility. Each accreditation agency requires rigorous inspections that look at every component of your safety system. Not only does this give your staff and patients peace of mind, but it also helps discover if any part of your life safety system is out of date, wearing out, or malfunctioning.
Read on to learn what you can expect at an accreditation inspection with a fire professional from FPS Technologies.
What’s Involved in an Accreditation Fire Inspection?
The medical facility fire inspection process with FPS depends on if you're a new or existing client. If FPS is familiar with your inspection schedule, the process starts with us reminding your facility that your fire inspection is due or will soon be due.
When FPS arrives for your inspection, we’ll let you know which areas of the building we need to access during the inspection. In many cases, we’ll be throughout the entire building testing different elements of your fire safety system.
The FPS technician will disable your facility's fire panel and make sure it doesn’t go off while the inspection is conducted. After that, an official will use a smoke wand (a handheld device that releases a small amount of smoke) to test each smoke detector in the designated areas to see if they are performing optimally.
FPS officials will also inspect sprinkler systems through either a functional sprinkler test or pure observation for any seeable damage or compromised areas, depending on your accreditation and inspection timeline.
After the physical inspection is completed, FPS will draft a report for your facility. For new clients, this involves setting up a barcode system where we assign a unique barcode to every device tested at your location. While the initial setup can be time-consuming, subsequent inspections for repeat clients take little time, as we simply have to scan an existing barcode and then seamlessly generate a compliance report.
What If Part of My Facility Doesn’t Meet Accreditation Requirements, or My Inspection is Overdue?
If any component of your facility doesn’t meet the requirements set by your chosen accreditation body, FPS will alert you and offer recommendations for how to resolve the issue. You’ll have a limited time (typically around ten calendar days, but it can vary depending on your specific accreditation body) to resolve the issue before losing your accreditation.
Because of the COVID pandemic, many facilities took advantage of opportunities to delay their inspections and limit traffic to their building. If you find yourself in a situation where you’ve put off your inspection due to COVID, FPS can assist in providing the correct documentation to justify the delays. We’re also happy to help you resume your regular inspection schedule for your building.
Schedule Your Inspection Today
If your inspection is due or you’d simply like to partner with a fire protection company that can offer top-of-the-line fire protection services, recommendations, and inspections, schedule an inspection with FPS today.
