What you don’t know can (and often does) lead to contamination, costly shutdowns, and non-compliance. To gather in-depth knowledge of healthcare piping systems, you need to have eyes on your pipes and good documentation. And too many hospitals have insufficient means in both areas. The risks compound when staff retire or move on, and the legacy knowledge many facilities rely on is lost.
Hidden Piping Risks in Healthcare by the Numbers: Where it Hurts & What to Do
What You Miss & What It Means
What are the five most common piping system failures identified during on-site surveys of hospitals and other healthcare facilities?
- Unprotected cross-connections within the potable water system
- Pipe labeling deficiencies
- Missing or mislabeled valves
- Unknown piping bypasses
- Inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated schematics
The results of these failures can be disastrous. First and foremost, missed piping information and delayed response jeopardize patient safety. When you don’t know what systems are connected, where and how they connect, and what protections are in place, you face:
- Slow emergency response
- High costs associated with downtime, insurance, and/or audit compliance
- Significant regulatory exposure
- Extended troubleshooting time
In fact, hospital staff report losing up to 20 hours every month tracing unknown piping routes, attempting to find the correct valves, and identifying root causes. With a proper system in place and investment in solid, reliable documentation, you can eliminate unnecessary activity (and wasted man-hours) entirely.
From Survey to Navigation
Comprehensive, visual surveys go beyond what can be gathered with a surface-level scan of the piping systems. To create a complete picture, surveyors should inspect the entire facility, including above ceiling tiles, to confirm where the pipes go, where they connect, whether labels are present, the condition of existing labels, the purpose of each valve, and more. Piping system surveys are an intelligence-gathering mission—and much can be gleaned.
Within a healthcare facility, myriad piping systems beyond potable water ought to be surveyed. At the building level, you should survey:
- Chilled water
- Boilers
- Cooling towers
- Kitchen/cafeteria systems
- Lawn irrigation
- Decorative fountains
- Humidification and steam systems
And, in hospitals, medical processes further complicate piping systems. To assess healthcare piping systems and effectively uncover risks, a comprehensive survey should include:
- Morgue and autopsy room systems
- Labs and lab equipment
- Sterilization and cleaning
- Dialysis systems
- Treated and soft water systems
- Endoscopy equipment
- Bed pan washers
- Therapy tubs
Believe it or not, these lists aren’t exhaustive. Hospitals benefit from (and struggle with) a wide variety of piping systems. While these systems allow for complex operations, bad record-keeping and labeling make maintenance, renovations, and system navigation a challenge—and, of course, a threat to safety.
Many healthcare facilities rely on incomplete documentation from contractors scoping out work related to renovations that can’t possibly provide the level of detail needed for safe operations. Hospitals need to conduct thorough surveys to get a holistic, accurate record of their piping systems. Any drawings you and your team rely on need to be complete, accessible (in both digital and printed formats), and easily referenceable.
Look, Learn, Act
To create that documentation and ensure your hospital’s piping systems are secure, protected, and working properly, you know you need to survey. But what other information should you gather while tracing and mapping the pipes?
First, ensure all backflow preventers are identified and recorded. Then, audit all backflow prevention methods throughout your system—from air gaps to assemblies—for proper installation, placement, and maintenance. This keeps potable water safe from backflow contamination risks.
Once you have a solid overview of your piping systems, turn your attention to compliant pipe labeling. Make sure your systems have clear, coordinated, and properly placed labels that align with regulatory and accreditation standards. Not only is labeling essential for compliance, but it allows for improved navigation and, of course, safer operations.
Finally, you should formalize and operationalize piping documentation. Schematics help teams across departments better navigate piping systems. But that’s not all they’re good for. You can stay on top of high-hazard, high-risk, and potential problem areas to address the threat of contamination. To operationalize schematics is to incorporate them into day-to-day operations and use them. For navigation, for maintenance, and, most of all, for safety.
Identifying hidden risks within healthcare piping systems starts with knowing your pipes—inside and out. A full survey, resulting in clear and reliable documentation, positions hospitals for safe, successful operations.
Ready to learn more about how HydroCorp can support your healthcare facility with on-site surveys, piping schematic development, and more?
