Principal Amy Carpenter recently presented four proposals for changes to the 2012 National Fire Protection Association Life Safety Code (NFPA 101), as it pertains to Health Care occupancies (Chapters 18 & 19). At the recent committee meetings, all four of these proposals were accepted by the NFPA Technical Committee. Letter ballots will be sent out to all the committee members and the results of the final voting will be announced in June 2011 and, when approved, will be included in the 2012 Life Safety Code.
"I feel incredibly fortunate to have been a part of this process," Amy said. "These code changes are a dramatic shift towards culture change and are right in line with WRT's mission to create better places. This will help us to create comfortable and homelike residences for elders while still maintaining the high level of safety for which the NFPA strives."
The proposals addressed the following areas:
- Allowing cooking in a household, in a kitchen open to the corridor, and the use of residential appliances without a commercial range hood.
- Allowing areas of seating to encroach into the width of an eight-foot corridor to provide places for residents to stop and rest, as well as socialize.
- Clarifying language to allow the use of gas-fired fireplaces to be used in areas adjacent to resident sleeping rooms.
- Increasing percentages of wall and door areas that non-flame retardant decorations may be applied to. This will allow residents greater flexibility to bring in their own items, like a grandchild's artwork, to decorate their rooms.
The proposals presented were the outcome of the work by a task force that was convened by the Pioneer Network and supported by a grant from the Hulda B and Maurice L Rothschild foundation. Stakeholders involved in the task force include members from several national organizations such as CMS, AAHSA, SAGE, AIA Design for Aging, American Healthcare Association, US department of Veterans Affairs, The GREEN HOUSE project, The Eden Alternative, NCCNHR, and others.
