Environment of Care Toolkit

Healthcare organizations are great role models of healthy environments in the community. Healthcare facilities are encouraged to become 100% tobacco-free to protect patients, staff and visitors from secondhand smoke. This resource provides tools to transition to a tobacco-free organization.

Wet floors pose a significant slip/trip/fall hazard in hospitals. While mopping floors is a key component of any infection prevention program, the wet floor that results can be dangerous if proper precautions are not taken. This tool is an excellent document to train new hires in the Environmental Services department as well as a quick reminder for existing staff.

Insects and pests that enter your organization can bring in bacteria and contaminate surfaces, equipment and supplies. This article is an excellent overview of common ways insects and pests enter your organization and how you can prevent it or at least control it. It is an excellent tool to help develop environmental services practices to assist with infection prevention.

The Joint Commission website provides healthcare providers with resources in regulatory and standards of care as it relates to the Environment of Care.

NIOSH provides resources as it relates to workplace safety.

OSHA provides resources as it relates to occupational safety for workers.

This resource provides a log for documenting fire drills conducted throughout the organization on a quarterly and a shift-by-shift basis. It is important to conduct fire drills and maintain documentation of the drills conducted in an easy-to-read format as a reference for surveyors.

This resource provides a template for ILSM measures and a checklist for developing a policy and procedure when interim life safety is needed to ensure the safety of all.

The NFPA provides great resources in fire safety and prevention including electrical safety to hazardous materials, community risk reduction and public safety.

This checklist from the NFPA helps guide for inspection for swinging fire door assembly.

Healthcare facilities are expected to conduct and document an Infection Control Risk Assessment, also called an ICRA, prior to any type of construction or renovation. The purpose of this tool is to identify and mitigate any risks to the environment, staff or patients in the organization during the construction/renovation period.

This information, provided by the CDC, provides specific evidence-based guidelines for infection control and prevention in healthcare facilities.

This information, provided by the CDC, provides specific evidence-based guidelines for infection control and prevention in outpatient settings.

This information, provided by the CDC, provides specific evidence-based guidelines for environmental infection control and prevention in healthcare facilities. This resource addresses equipment cleaning, HVAC systems, pest control and construction projects, etc that have an impact on the health of others.

Sample DHH infection control risk assessment specific to acute care hospitals.

Sample DHH infection control risk assessment specific for hemodialysis facilities.

Sample DHH infection control risk assessment specific to long term care facilities.

Sample DHH infection control risk assessment specific to outpatient care settings.

Sample environment of care checklist that lists items evaluated during the DHH survey infection control risk assessment.

A guide for the environmental services staff to aid in training on proper cleaning through-out a healthcare facility.

A checklist for the environmental services staff to ensure proper terminal cleaning of rooms after patient discharge.

The CDC website provides great resources on diseases and conditions as it relates to the healthcare industry.

APIC provides great resources on infection control topics for healthcare professionals.

Utilize this tool when performing environment of care rounds, weekly or monthly assessments, tracers or in preparation for a regulatory survey to gain an overall picture of the condition of the environment. The environment of care assessment tool can be applied at the departmental level in any healthcare organization.

This resource provides updated Life Safety Codes for the environment of care and life safety elements for the Hospital Accreditation Program, the Ambulatory Healthcare Accreditation Program and the Critical Access Hospital Accreditation Program.