ASHE Seeking Data and Insight on Battery Safety in Healthcare Facilities

The American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) Battery Safety Task Group is collecting data to develop practical guidance on the risks associated with battery technologies in healthcare facilities — which are commonly used in everything from power tools to infusion pumps to access control power supplies. 

The task group was formed as regulators began to examine battery safety. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has convened representatives from 45 industries, including healthcare facilities management, to weigh in on potential standards governing the use of battery technology in buildings as part of the new NFPA 800, Battery Safety Code. ASHE officials are serving on the NFPA 800 committee to ensure the standard doesn’t impede healthcare staff from using batteries in life-saving procedures or as part of patient-supportive facilities operations, while also still addressing risk. 

To help with this effort, ASHE has convened the Battery Safety Task Group, made up of members from all areas of facilities management, who will help inform ASHE’s guidance on the issue, both with NFPA as well as ASHE’s own facilities recommendations.

The Battery Safety Task Group has developed two surveys to identify current battery safety challenges in healthcare settings and to inform opportunities for education, guidance and alignment with codes, standards and best practices. 
ASHE is requesting that members of the healthcare facilities management field assist the task group by providing real-world information and practical insights on battery risk and safety measures through the surveys:

• Hospital Battery Equipment Inventory Collection. This survey focuses on how batteries are currently managed in healthcare facilities, where gaps exist, and what resources would be most valuable to the field. Please submit information on the types of equipment and batteries currently used throughout your facilities. All information collected will be used only to develop aggregated estimates and will not be shared or disseminated in any way that identifies individual facilities or the source of the information. This data is critical to ensure that the guidance developed by the Battery Safety Task Group reflects the full range of real-world conditions and use cases. Take the survey.
• Battery Fire Event Log. This survey collects information on the types of battery‑related incidents that have occurred in hospitals, such as thermal runaway and fire, flammable gas venting and explosions, electrical and shock hazards, exposure to harmful chemicals and toxins, and environmental contamination. Since the majority of existing research and data models on battery safety are based on non-healthcare occupancies (often involving industrial equipment that would not typically be found in a healthcare setting), there is a great need for models and guidance that accurately reflect hospital environments. The submitted information will not be shared or disseminated in any way that identifies an individual facility or its source. Take the survey. 

For more information on the task group, read this Health Facilities Management article.