×
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

Stainless Steel Electrical Panels in Surgery: Required?

Stainless Steel Electrical Panels in Surgery: Required?

Stainless Steel Electrical Panels in Surgery: Required?

(OP)
Our normal practice is to use stainless steel fronts on electrical panels in surgery suites.  We have a 150A disconnect for a machine that has to go in a Cath Lab, which we've been instructed to treat as if it is a surgery area for design purposes.  However, designing this item in stainless steel is being questioned due to cost.

Are stainless steel covers required by code in surgery suites?  Or just normal practice?

 

SparksRfun

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

RE: Stainless Steel Electrical Panels in Surgery: Required?

When you're asking code questions it makes sense to state which country you are in, otherwise everyone will assume you're some hillbilly from the backwoods of the USA who isn't aware that other countries exist. And we wouldn't want that would we...? smile


If the client is prepared to pay for their panel in stainless and it meets code requirements then why would there be a problem? Are you trying to save the client money, or maximise your profit? Both are worthy goals, if done by ethical means.
  

----------------------------------
  
If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
 

RE: Stainless Steel Electrical Panels in Surgery: Required?

(OP)
OK, I am in the US, and we are working in Oklahoma.  (You can draw your own conclusions as to whether any of us are hillbillies....:) )  

However, I think this panel should be stainless, and I'd rather not use anything else.  An Architect, who may or may not know any better, wants to try to save a few bucks and use plain painted steel.  I am trying to figure out if there is a requirement for stainless in surgery suites, or if it is just a recommended practice.  

 

SparksRfun

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

RE: Stainless Steel Electrical Panels in Surgery: Required?

noevil
  

----------------------------------
  
If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
 

RE: Stainless Steel Electrical Panels in Surgery: Required?

That hillbilly thingy simplifies things a lot. As long as you eat roadkill, you can use any old cardboard to build panels from smile

Gunnar Englund
www.gke.org
--------------------------------------
100 % recycled posting: Electrons, ideas, finger-tips have been used over and over again...

RE: Stainless Steel Electrical Panels in Surgery: Required?

I have never seen a panel in a "surgery"  (operating room).
I don't think I would want to be treated in one.  
It's been awhile since I worked in an operating room but every thing could stand disiinfecting and haveing the blood washed off of things. If there was something in there I would want it at least NEMA 4X.   

RE: Stainless Steel Electrical Panels in Surgery: Required?

Besides codes and good practice, you may have accreditation rules such as JCAHO to consider.

Alan
"The engineer's first problem in any design situation is to discover what the problem really is." Unk.

RE: Stainless Steel Electrical Panels in Surgery: Required?

1.  Check JCAHO.
2.  Check with the hospital's infection control doctor.

I was director of engineering in two different large hospitals, years ago. Nobody seemed to care what the material used was, as long as it could be sterilized with washdown containing bleach.

Some were stainless, some were epoxy painted, all were gasketed.  We didn't put panelboards (load centers) in surgery or cath lab type rooms where a sterile field is required.  That was long ago, though -- do items 1 and 2 above to get current info.

Let us know how it turns out!

Good on ya,

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