×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Operating Rooms - Emergency Lighting

Operating Rooms - Emergency Lighting

Operating Rooms - Emergency Lighting

(OP)
Is there any requirement in the NEC or NFPA 99 about emergency lighting percentage in operating rooms?  Our practice has been to include 50% of the lighting on emergency power, 50% on normal power and 100% of medical task lighting on emergency power. (We also provide some lighting on battery power)   Is this just a general practice or is it a requirement?  Do people believe that 100% of the lighting in ORs should be on emergency power? or is 50/50 a safer bet?   

SparksRfun

"The truth will set you free, but first it will make you madder than a wet bobcat"  

RE: Operating Rooms - Emergency Lighting

I can't imagine NOT putting 100% of operating room lights on the emergency power system.  If you're short of generator kVA, I'd look for somewhere else to cut back.  The battery powered lights as an adjunct are also a good idea.  

I'm not sure about the current NFPA requirements.

 

RE: Operating Rooms - Emergency Lighting

I have a slightly different opinion, I would keep some lights on normal source (say even 20%). Putting all lights on one source is a bad idea, even emergency.  A loss of one source or a switch or a panel shall not result in total darkness. That is the premise of the code requirement for emergency lighting.

Rafiq Bulsara
http://www.srengineersct.com

RE: Operating Rooms - Emergency Lighting

(OP)
Here is a link to a Veterans Administration Design Guide that calls for 50% emergency, 50% normal and one fixture on battery backup.  It's on page 4-7 paragraph 4.6.12.  I've used VA design guides before as crib notes to determine best practices.  I am not working in a VA facility, just looking over their shoulder to determine standard practices. Wish it cited codes.

http://www.cfm.va.gov/til/dManual/dmELhosp.pdf

 

SparksRfun

"The truth will set you free, but first it will make you madder than a wet bobcat"  

RE: Operating Rooms - Emergency Lighting

Codes have no % (percentage) requirement. Nothing wrong with 50/50 philosophy, code wise.

Rafiq Bulsara
http://www.srengineersct.com

RE: Operating Rooms - Emergency Lighting

Certainly not more than 50% on any one transfer switch; even if all of it has generator supply.

RE: Operating Rooms - Emergency Lighting

I would agree with splitting between transfer switches if possible.  But the 50% on utility power will be 100% OFF in an actual power outage.   If the generator and xfer switches don't work, you're screwed anyway.  





 

RE: Operating Rooms - Emergency Lighting

I was engineering director in a couple major-size hospitals -- almost 20 years ago though.

At the time, there was a JCAHO (Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) probe that required some percentage of OR lights to be on normal power only -- though you had the option of arranging a separate transfer switch to power them from the mechanical (not life safety, not critical) branch of the backup system as long as it was kept physically remote. It's taken from the VA guidelines I think.

Their thinking was to help insure separate physical conduit runs from multiple directions -- in the event of earthquake or civil unrest or other disaster that took out the emergency distribution, you'd still maybe have another intact set of wires heading to the operating room that could be used.

We put battery ballasts in all the fluorescents anyway.  No limit on that stuff.

Good on y'all,

Goober Dave

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources