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Man holes in the Operating Suites ceilings

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  • #75316
    Richard Bartolo
    Participant

    Author:
    Richard Bartolo

    Position:
    Principal Infection Prevention CNC

    Organisation:
    Western Health

    State:
    VIC

    Hi Everyone,
    I have a construction question for any information if you can help please? In a brand new Operating Theatre Suite the architects or builders decided to put 5 manholes in the ceiling of every operating room. The building has just been handed over but a few weeks before during one of our visits I saw one of these manholes opened and noticed that it didn’t have any seals so when closed its won’t be airtight. I voiced my concerns about this and the response I got was “the ceiling /manholes are sealed to the soffit therefore services penetrated into the ceiling are not required to be sealed.”
    Should I be concerned about having these manholes in the ORs in the first place? And even if these were sealed, anyone from engineering can simply open into the roof space at any time, disturb whatever is brewing up in the ceiling cavity and close it as if nothing has happened. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

    Kind Regards,
    Richard
    Richard Bartolo
    Manager Infection Prevention
    Western Health
    Gordon Street, Footscray VIC 3011
    Ph. 03 8345 6113
    Mob. 0438 560 441
    Email. richard.bartolo@wh.org.au
    Web. http://www.westernhealth.org.au

    [cid:image002.jpg@01D4EACC.EFE27250]

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    #75317
    Sean Lansley
    Participant

    Author:
    Sean Lansley

    Position:

    Organisation:

    State:

    Hi Richard,

    We had a similar problem at my previous place of employment. A clean room had been fitted out with an access panel for the HVAC system and we continuously failed our particles counts which led to delays in utilising the facility.

    Eventually we had the ceiling access panel sealed and after a thorough clean hey presto, the particle counts came down to acceptable levels. Although guarantees can be made that the hatches are sealed I believe that changes in air pressure (that so often occur in clean rooms under positive pressure) may well force open these hatches just enough to let particles i.e. dust, to get through.

    Of course, there is also the concern you raised of personnel accessing these hatches without your knowledge. If sealed then any access should be obvious to see afterwards as the seal around the hatch would be damaged in some way.

    Those are my thoughts on the issue and I hope they may help you in some way. Cheers.

    Kind regards,
    Sean.

    Sean Lansley BSc. Med.
    MASM ABSANZ | Infection Control, Logistics and Contracts Manager
    sean@ecojemss.com.au | 0401 398 966
    ECO JEMSS PTY LTD | ABN: 93 169 468 464
    (08) 9304 4361
    https://www.ecojemss.com.au

    Hi Everyone,
    I have a construction question for any information if you can help please? In a brand new Operating Theatre Suite the architects or builders decided to put 5 manholes in the ceiling of every operating room. The building has just been handed over but a few weeks before during one of our visits I saw one of these manholes opened and noticed that it didnt have any seals so when closed its wont be airtight. I voiced my concerns about this and the response I got was the ceiling /manholes are sealed to the soffit therefore services penetrated into the ceiling are not required to be sealed.
    Should I be concerned about having these manholes in the ORs in the first place? And even if these were sealed, anyone from engineering can simply open into the roof space at any time, disturb whatever is brewing up in the ceiling cavity and close it as if nothing has happened. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

    Kind Regards,
    Richard
    Richard Bartolo
    Manager Infection Prevention
    Western Health
    Gordon Street, Footscray VIC 3011
    Ph. 03 8345 6113
    Mob. 0438 560 441
    Email. richard.bartolo@wh.org.au
    Web. http://www.westernhealth.org.au

    Notice:
    This email (and any attachment) is for the exclusive use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or protected by copyrights. If you are not the addressee or the person responsible for delivering this email to the addressee, you must not disclose, distribute, print or copy this email and the contents must be kept strictly confidential. If this email has been sent to you in error, kindly notify us immediately on 03 8345 56113 and destroy the original. Electronic mail is not secure and there is also a risk that it may be corrupted in transmission. It is therefore your responsibility to check this email (and any attachment) carefully and if there are any errors to contact us immediately. We do not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by such lack of security or transmission errors.

    MESSAGES POSTED TO THIS LIST ARE SOLELY THE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR, AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE OPINION OF ACIPC.
    The use of trade/product/commercial brand names through the list is discouraged by ACIPC. If you wish to discuss specific reference to products or services by brand or commercial names, please do this outside the list.
    Archive of all messages are available at http://aicalist.org.au/archives – registration and login required.
    Replies to this message will be directed back to the list. To create a new message send an email to acipclist@acipc.org.au
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    MESSAGES POSTED TO THIS LIST ARE SOLELY THE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR, AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE OPINION OF ACIPC.

    The use of trade/product/commercial brand names through the list is discouraged by ACIPC. If you wish to discuss specific reference to products or services by brand or commercial names, please do this outside the list.

    Archive of all messages are available at http://aicalist.org.au/archives – registration and login required.

    Replies to this message will be directed back to the list. To create a new message send an email to acipclist@acipc.org.au

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    #75318
    Richard Bartolo
    Participant

    Author:
    Richard Bartolo

    Position:
    Principal Infection Prevention CNC

    Organisation:
    Western Health

    State:
    VIC

    Hi Sean,
    Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts. I will let you know of any outcome.

    Kind Regards,
    Richard
    Richard Bartolo
    Manager Infection Prevention
    Western Health
    Gordon Street, Footscray VIC 3011
    Ph. 03 8345 6113
    Mob. 0438 560 441
    Email. richard.bartolo@wh.org.au
    Web. http://www.westernhealth.org.au

    [cid:image003.jpg@01D4EB04.7B220290]

    Notice:
    This email (and any attachment) is for the exclusive use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or protected by copyrights. If you are not the addressee or the person responsible for delivering this email to the addressee, you must not disclose, distribute, print or copy this email and the contents must be kept strictly confidential. If this email has been sent to you in error, kindly notify us immediately on 03 8345 56113 and destroy the original. Electronic mail is not secure and there is also a risk that it may be corrupted in transmission. It is therefore your responsibility to check this email (and any attachment) carefully and if there are any errors to contact us immediately. We do not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by such lack of security or transmission errors.

    From: ACIPC Infexion Connexion [mailto:ACIPCLIST@ACIPC.ORG.AU] On Behalf Of Sean Lansley
    Sent: Thursday, 4 April 2019 11:28 AM
    To: ACIPCLIST@ACIPC.ORG.AU
    Subject: Re: Man holes in the Operating Suites ceilings

    Hi Richard,

    We had a similar problem at my previous place of employment. A clean room had been fitted out with an access panel for the HVAC system and we continuously failed our particles counts which led to delays in utilising the facility.

    Eventually we had the ceiling access panel sealed and after a thorough clean hey presto, the particle counts came down to acceptable levels. Although guarantees can be made that the hatches are sealed I believe that changes in air pressure (that so often occur in clean rooms under positive pressure) may well force open these hatches just enough to let particles i.e. dust, to get through.

    Of course, there is also the concern you raised of personnel accessing these hatches without your knowledge. If sealed then any access should be obvious to see afterwards as the seal around the hatch would be damaged in some way.

    Those are my thoughts on the issue and I hope they may help you in some way. Cheers.

    Kind regards,
    Sean.

    [cid:image002.png@01D4801C.7E24D650]
    Sean Lansley BSc. Med.
    MASM ABSANZ | Infection Control, Logistics and Contracts Manager
    sean@ecojemss.com.au | 0401 398 966
    ECO JEMSS PTY LTD | ABN: 93 169 468 464
    (08) 9304 4361
    https://www.ecojemss.com.au

    From: Bartolo, Richard
    Sent: Thursday, 4 April 2019 7:17 AM
    To: ACIPCLIST@ACIPC.ORG.AU
    Subject: Man holes in the Operating Suites ceilings

    Hi Everyone,
    I have a construction question for any information if you can help please? In a brand new Operating Theatre Suite the architects or builders decided to put 5 manholes in the ceiling of every operating room. The building has just been handed over but a few weeks before during one of our visits I saw one of these manholes opened and noticed that it didnt have any seals so when closed its wont be airtight. I voiced my concerns about this and the response I got was the ceiling /manholes are sealed to the soffit therefore services penetrated into the ceiling are not required to be sealed.
    Should I be concerned about having these manholes in the ORs in the first place? And even if these were sealed, anyone from engineering can simply open into the roof space at any time, disturb whatever is brewing up in the ceiling cavity and close it as if nothing has happened. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

    Kind Regards,
    Richard
    Richard Bartolo
    Manager Infection Prevention
    Western Health
    Gordon Street, Footscray VIC 3011
    Ph. 03 8345 6113
    Mob. 0438 560 441
    Email. richard.bartolo@wh.org.au
    Web. http://www.westernhealth.org.au

    [cid:image002.jpg@01D4EACC.EFE27250]

    Notice:
    This email (and any attachment) is for the exclusive use of the addressee and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or protected by copyrights. If you are not the addressee or the person responsible for delivering this email to the addressee, you must not disclose, distribute, print or copy this email and the contents must be kept strictly confidential. If this email has been sent to you in error, kindly notify us immediately on 03 8345 56113 and destroy the original. Electronic mail is not secure and there is also a risk that it may be corrupted in transmission. It is therefore your responsibility to check this email (and any attachment) carefully and if there are any errors to contact us immediately. We do not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by such lack of security or transmission errors.

    MESSAGES POSTED TO THIS LIST ARE SOLELY THE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR, AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE OPINION OF ACIPC.

    The use of trade/product/commercial brand names through the list is discouraged by ACIPC. If you wish to discuss specific reference to products or services by brand or commercial names, please do this outside the list.

    Archive of all messages are available at http://aicalist.org.au/archives – registration and login required.

    Replies to this message will be directed back to the list. To create a new message send an email to acipclist@acipc.org.au

    To send a message to the list administrator send an email to admin@acipc.org.au

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    MESSAGES POSTED TO THIS LIST ARE SOLELY THE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR, AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE OPINION OF ACIPC.

    The use of trade/product/commercial brand names through the list is discouraged by ACIPC. If you wish to discuss specific reference to products or services by brand or commercial names, please do this outside the list.

    Archive of all messages are available at http://aicalist.org.au/archives – registration and login required.

    Replies to this message will be directed back to the list. To create a new message send an email to acipclist@acipc.org.au

    To send a message to the list administrator send an email to admin@acipc.org.au

    You can unsubscribe manually from this list by sending ‘signoff acipclist’ (without the quotes) to listserv@aicalist.org.au

    MESSAGES POSTED TO THIS LIST ARE SOLELY THE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR, AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE OPINION OF ACIPC.

    The use of trade/product/commercial brand names through the list is discouraged by ACIPC. If you wish to discuss specific reference to products or services by brand or commercial names, please do this outside the list.

    Archive of all messages are available at http://aicalist.org.au/archives – registration and login required.

    Replies to this message will be directed back to the list. To create a new message send an email to acipclist@acipc.org.au

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