Authors (including presenting author) :
Leung KK (1), Lam CCK (2)
Affiliation :
(1) Occupational Safety and Health Unit, Quality and Safety Department, Queen Mary Hospital
(2) Division of Haematology, Department of Pathology, Queen Mary Hospital
Introduction :
Hospitals are under pressure to continually upgrade and expand their facilities. Aging infrastructure, new technologies, and the increasing demand for more patient-friendly facilities generate a constant need for construction and repair. Renovation and construction of hospital facilities, which inevitably release dust and probably disease-inducing microbes into the environment, may pose adverse impacts on both patients and staff if these activities are not properly managed. In view of this, several measures have been adopted in Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) redevelopment project by the Hong Kong West Cluster Occupational Safety and Health Team to minimize the potential impacts.
Objectives :
To improve the safety of staff and patients by controlling the environmental hazards generated by hospital redevelopment projects.
Methodology :
Risk Assessment
Various hazards generated by redevelopment projects were reviewed and analyzed. Noise and dust were identified as the most significant hazards. After extensive sourcing in the global market, new Certificate Noise Absorptive Barriers with average noise reduction of 21dB were introduced to minimize the high frequency noise during construction. Compared with the traditional reflective noise barriers, these newly introduced noise barriers comply with both European and Swedish standards SS-EN ISO 354 and have the feature of wind durability, which is desirable in the outdoor environment of QMH. The effectiveness of hoarding around the construction site is variable. The effectiveness, however, must be guaranteed in a hospital setting to protect the patients and the sophisticated medical equipment. Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) Dust Control Awareness Barriers were selected, based on its dust-repelling characteristic with fire resistant feature (National Fire Protection Association, NFPA 701), to be erected in departments which were affected by nearby construction sites to minimize the dust level. Environmental Air Monitoring
Full spectrum particle sizes (from PM1 to PM10) monitoring and environmental noise assessment were conducted before and during the whole construction periods. Data from the pre-construction period served as baseline data for comparison. The effectiveness of the new control measure and any abnormal practices by the contractor staff can be reflected by the measured data.
Result & Outcome :
Results
Noise reduction of around 18 dB was achieved after the erection of the new noise barriers. In addition, the environmental noise level complied with the standards of Environmental Protection Department and no staff complaints were received thereafter. The effectiveness of the dust barriers was also reflected in the measured data of environmental particle concentration which showed a significant improvement to 0.4 to 0.6 mg/m3, a 3 fold reduction as compared with the data of hoarding alone. Conclusion
An effective strategy for minimizing the hazards generated by redevelopment project is necessary, not only to protect staff and patients, but also to ensure regulatory compliance. Concerted effort from multiple stakeholders is required and a systematic multi-pong approach should be adopted. A scientific basis is essential when new measures are introduced. These enhancement measures have been extended to other HKWC hospitals and some private hospitals have also adopted them. It is expected that safety of staff and patients, together with service quality can be assured during the whole redevelopment project.
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