How Doors Affect Your Life Safety Compliance

life safety compliance - Healthcare Life Safety Services
Make sure your doors are up to life safety compliance standards.

Life safety compliance provides fire safety for patients, staff, and visitors inside your healthcare facility. The Joint Commission and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services require life safety measures for healthcare accreditation. Also, both agencies adhere to the National Fire Protection Association standards for fire safety. These standards include annual door inspection requirements for your healthcare facility.

However, what are the healthcare door inspection requirements for full life safety compliance? Here is a guide for the procedures many healthcare accreditation agencies expect you to carry out.

Which Doors Require Annual Inspection for Life Safety Compliance?

Healthcare regulatory compliance requires certain life safety measures like annual door testing. However, which doors need to be inspected every year? Both the Joint Commission and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services require annual inspection for the following types of doors:

  • Doors with panic or fire exit hardware
  • Doors in exit enclosures
  • Electronically controlled exit doors
  • Doors with special locking arrangements

These doors lead the people inside your healthcare facility to safety during an emergency. Therefore, they are an essential component of life safety compliance. Create a schedule and inspect these doors at least once a year. This can help you keep patients, staff, and visitors safe, as well as maintain your healthcare regulatory compliance.

What About Other Doors?

Doors that don’t need to be inspected annually for life safety include doors in corridors, patient rooms, and offices, so long as they aren’t made of flammable or combustible materials. However, as part of our overall maintenance plan, regulatory agencies do recommend that you inspect them regularly.

What Needs to Be Inspected on Doors for Healthcare Regulatory Compliance

So, what exactly needs inspection on healthcare doors? Annual door inspection and testing for life safety compliance includes a few different things. First, doors should be free of visible damage. This includes holes, breaks, or cracks in the door assembly or components. Additionally, all the components of your door assembly and hardware should be present, undamaged, and in good working order. Self-closing doors should also shut completely when let go from their full-open positions. Also, inspect gaskets and seals to ensure their integrity. Your healthcare regulatory compliance is essential for your accreditation and for maintaining safe environments for those inside your facility. Therefore, be sure to check your doors for any violations and repair or replace those that aren’t in accordance with healthcare regulatory standards.

At Health Life Safety Services, we can help you find areas of non-compliance in your healthcare facility. To properly prepare for your healthcare facility audit, our team will conduct an inspection and help you develop a plan to achieve accreditation. Our services can help you prepare for your survey and provide the information you need to correct issues before your audit. Call us today at (281) 598-1359 for more information or to request a free estimate. At Health Life Safety Services, we are here to serve you.