| (vi) Sliding doors. Horizontal sliding doors serving an occupant load of fewer than 10 shall be permitted. The area served by the door has no high hazard contents. The door is readily operable from either side without special knowledge or effort. The force required to operate the door in the direction of door travel is not more than 30 pounds per foot to set the door in motion and is not more than 15 pounds per foot to close the door or open in the minimum required width. The door assembly complies with any required fire protection rating, and, where rated, is self-closing or automatic closing. The sliding doors opening to the egress corridor doors shall have a latch or other mechanism that ensures that the doors will not rebound into a partially open position if forcefully closed. The sliding doors may have breakaway provisions and shall be installed to resist passage of smoke. The latching sliding panel shall have a minimum clear opening of 41.5 inches in the fully open position. The fixed panels may have recessed tracks. (vii) Control doors. Designs that include cross-corridor control doors should be avoided. When unavoidable, cross-corridor control doors shall consist of two 44-inch wide leaves which swing in a direction opposite from the other, or of the double acting type. Each door leaf shall be provided with a view window. (viii) Emergency access. Rooms containing bathtubs, showers, and water closets, intended for patient use shall be provided with at least one door having hardware which will permit access from the outside in any emergency. Door leaf width of such doors shall not be less than 36 inches. (ix) Obstruction of corridors. All doors which swing towards the corridor must be recessed. Corridor doors to rooms not subject to occupancy (any room that you can walk into and close the door behind you is considered occupiable) may swing into the corridor, provided that such doors comply with the requirements of NFPA 101, §7.2.1.4.4. (x) Stair landing. Doors shall not open immediately onto a stair without a landing. The landing shall be 44 inches deep or have a depth at least equal to the door width, whichever is greater. (xi) Doors to rooms subject to occupancy. All doors to rooms subject to occupancy shall be of the swing type except that horizontal sliding doors complying with the requirements of NFPA 101, §18.2.2.2.9 are permitted. Door leaves to rooms subject to occupancy shall not be less than 36 inches wide. (xii) Operable windows and exterior doors. Windows that can be opened without tools or keys and outer doors without automatic closing devices shall be provided with insect screens. (xiii) Glazing. Glass doors, lights, sidelights, borrowed lights, and windows located within 12 inches of a door jamb or with a bottom-frame height of less than 18 inches and a top-frame height of more than 36 inches above the finished floor which may be broken accidentally by pedestrian traffic shall be glazed with safety glass or plastic glazing material that will resist breaking and will not create dangerous cutting edges when broken. Similar materials shall be used for wall openings in activity areas such as recreation and exercise rooms, unless otherwise required for fire safety. Safety glass, tempered or plastic glazing materials shall be used for shower doors and bath enclosures, interior windows and doors. Plastic and similar materials used for glazing shall comply with the flame spread ratings of NFPA 101, §18.3.3. (xiv) Fire doors. All fire doors shall be listed by an independent testing laboratory and shall meet the construction requirements for fire doors in National Fire Protection Association 80, Standard for Fire Doors and Fire Windows, 1999 edition. Reference to a labeled door shall be construed to include labeled frame and hardware. (xv) Grab bars. Grab bars shall be provided at patient toilets, showers and tubs. The bars shall be one and one-half inches in diameter, shall have either one and one-fourth or one and one-half inches clearance to walls, and shall have sufficient strength and anchorage to sustain a concentrated vertical or horizontal load of 250 pounds. Grab bars are not permitted at bathing and toilet fixtures in mental health and chemical dependency units unless designed and installed to eliminate the possibility of patients harming themselves. Grab bars intended for use by the disabled shall also comply with ADA requirements. (xvi) Soap dishes. Soap dishes shall be provided at all showers and bathtubs. (xvii) Hand washing facilities. Location and arrangement of fittings for hand washing facilities shall permit their proper use and operation. Hand washing fixtures with hands-free operable controls shall be provided within each workroom, examination, and treatment room. Hands-free includes blade-type handles, and foot, knee, or sensor operated controls. Particular care shall be given to the clearances required for blade-type operating handles. Lavatories and hand washing facilities shall be securely anchored to withstand an applied vertical load of not less than 250 pounds on the front of the fixture. In addition to the specific areas noted, hand washing facilities shall be provided and conveniently located for staff use throughout the hospital where patient care contact occurs and services are provided. (xviii) Soap dispensers. A liquid or foam soap dispenser shall be located at each hand washing facility. (xix) Alcohol-based hand rubs. Alcohol-based hand rubs (ABHRs) are considered flammable. When used, the ABHRs shall meet the following requirements: (I) The dispensers may be installed in a corridor so long as the corridor width is six feet or greater. The dispensers shall be installed at least four feet apart. (II) The maximum individual dispenser fluid capacity is 1.2 liters for dispensers in rooms, corridors, and areas open to corridors, and 2.0 liters for dispensers in suites of rooms. (III) The dispensers shall not be installed over or directly adjacent to electrical outlets and switches. (IV) Dispensers installed directly over carpeted surfaces shall be permitted only in sprinklered smoke compartments. (V) Each smoke compartment may contain a maximum aggregate of 10 gallons of ABHR solution in dispensers and a maximum of five gallons in storage. (xx) Hand drying. Provisions for hand drying shall be included at all hand washing facilities except scrub sinks. There shall be hot air dryers or individual paper or cloth units enclosed in such a way as to provide protection against dust or soil and ensure single-unit dispensing. (xxi) Mirrors. Mirrors shall not be installed at hand washing fixtures where asepsis control and sanitation requirements would be lessened by hair combing. Mirrors may be installed in patient rooms, patient toilet rooms, lockers, and public toilet rooms. (xxii) Ceiling heights. The minimum ceiling height shall be seven feet six inches with the following exceptions. (I) Boiler rooms. Boiler rooms shall have ceiling clearances not less than two feet six inches above the main boiler header and connecting piping. (II) Rooms with ceiling-mounted equipment. Rooms containing ceiling-mounted equipment shall have the ceiling height clearance increased to accommodate the equipment or fixtures. (III) Overhead clearance. Suspended tracks, rails, pipes, signs, lights, door closers, exit signs, and other fixtures that protrude into the path of normal traffic shall not be less than six feet eight inches above the finished floor. (xxiii) Areas producing impact noises. Recreation rooms, exercise rooms, and similar spaces where impact noises may be generated shall not be located directly over patient bed area or operating rooms unless special provisions are made to minimize noise. (xxiv) Noise reduction. Noise reduction criteria in accordance with the Table 1 in §133.169(a) of this title (relating to Tables) shall apply to partitions, floor, and ceiling construction in patient areas. (xxv) Rooms with heat-producing equipment. Rooms containing heat-producing equipment such as heater rooms, laundries, etc. shall be insulated and ventilated to prevent any occupied floor surface above from exceeding a temperature differential of 10 degrees Fahrenheit above the ambient room temperature. (xxvi) Chutes. Linen and refuse chutes shall comply with the requirements of National Fire Protection Association 82, Standard on Incinerators, Waste and Linen Handling Systems and Equipment, 2004 edition, and NFPA 101, §18.5.4. (xxvii) Thresholds and expansion joint covers. Thresholds and expansion joint covers shall be flush or not more than one-half inch above the floor surface to facilitate the use of wheelchairs and carts. Expansion and seismic joints shall be constructed to restrict the passage of smoke and fire and shall be listed by a nationally recognized testing laboratory. (xxviii) Housekeeping room. (I) In addition to the housekeeping room(s) required in certain departments, sufficient housekeeping rooms shall be provided throughout the hospital as required to maintain a clean and sanitary environment. Cont'd... |
