Currently there are no waivers allowing SNFs to vary from the Life Safety Code (LSC) or the Health Care Facilities Code (HCFC) during COVID-19. Life safety and compliance expert Stan Szpytek shared pointers for skilled nursing facilities to maintain a safe environment. His advice includes information on fire drills, inspection, testing and maintenance of fire protection and life safety systems, storage practices, and alcohol-based hand rub dispenser installation and placement. In addition, AHCA has issued a resource on tips for tackling the most common LSC and HCFC deficiencies.

Szpytek is the president of consulting firm Fire and Life Safety Inc., in Mesa, Arizona, and is the Life Safety/Disaster Planning Consultant for the Arizona Health Care Association and California Association of Health Facilities. Read his column: Focus on life safety during the management of COVID-19 (mcknights.com, March 24, 2020)

The AHCA Life Safety Tips includes advice for tackling the most common LSC (NFPA 101- 2012 edition) and HCFC (NFPA 99-2012 edition) deficiencies and suggestions on how to correct possible deficiencies in your facilities. These tips were developed by members of AHCA’s Life Safety Committee based on deficiencies frequency cited across the country.

For example, the leading deficiency in 2019 was K353- Sprinkler System Maintenance and testing, cited for more than 40 percent of providers. The tip sheet provides a bulleted checklist of some of the items you should check to help sustain compliance. For example, are you ensuring you have a supply of spare sprinklers, six per type of sprinkler in the facility?

Each of the top ten deficiencies was cited in over 10 percent of nursing centers in 2019. From fire drills to cooking facilities, review these tips to determine actions you may need to take in your centers to prevent and correct potential deficiencies with these Life Safety Tips.