New healthcare safety risk assessment toolkit includes acoustics and noise control design measures for error prevention in medication safety zones

The Facilities Guidelines Institute (FGI) manages the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals and Outpatient Facilities, which is used by the Joint Commission, many federal agencies, and authorities having jurisdiction in 42 states. The forthcoming 2014 edition calls for completion of a Safety Risk Assessment (SRA) to guide healthcare facility planning and design teams through systematic evaluation of safety issues in the built environment. In 2012, FGI and the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality commissioned The Center for Health Design to oversee a three year effort to develop, test, and disseminate an SRA toolkit. The toolkit will consist of an online facility design questionnaire, supporting whitepapers and guidelines, and education for the healthcare community. The Acoustics Research Council was invited to contribute by integrating noise control language into the medication safety segment of the online questionnaire tool. The result is a question that specifically addresses...