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Health Care

The NFPA Section Forum has been developed as a service to NFPA Members. The messages and responses posted do not necessarily reflect the views of NFPA, but are those of the author.

Section nominations
The Health Care Section Nominating Committee met on September 30 via teleconference. Nominating committee members present were Thomas Jaeger, Chair; Paul Coleman, Sue McLaughlin and Phillip Thomas. Others present were Dean Menken and Daniel Whiting. The committee received resumes for all positions to be voted this year. The Nominating Committee unanimously voted to nominate the following individuals:

For 2-year term board member: 

• Chris Mallett
• Chad Beebe
• Max Hauth

From the Chair
by Thomas W. Gardner, P.E., FSFPE, LEED AP

Hazardous Areas
Hazardous areas continue to be a subject of much discussion in health care facilities. Section 18.3.2 and Section 19.3.2 “Protection from Hazards” of the 2009 edition of NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®, require protection by various methods. However, the code clearly states that the list of hazardous areas it provides is representative, not exhaustive. Without an all-inclusive list, many code users ask how to determine whether a space should be considered a hazardous area.

The NFPA 101 Technical Committee on Health Care is not trying to be elusive on this subject. Rather, the committee has made these provisions mostly performance-based because a hazard depends on many factors, such as use, occupancy, protection, and processes, so a complete list of all situations is not possible.

Why provide a partial list of hazardous areas? Determining what is a hazardous area includes some intuition, common sense, training, experience, and, perhaps, a formal risk assessment. The list in the Life Safety Code is meant to help a facility, its fire protection engineer, and the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) make the correct determination. The facility or its fire protection engineer usually makes the initial determination. If the AHJ disagrees, he or she may require more supporting data, such as a formal risk assessment of the hazard.

Certain factors that must be considered when evaluating the hazard level of a space include the nature and quality of the combustible materials involved. The space should be considered a hazardous area if the materials it contains represent a significantly higher hazard than would otherwise be typical in the general areas of the facility because of their basic nature; the storage or configuration method; and the quantity of combustible materials involved. Are the materials flammable liquids or plastics? Are they folded or loosely piled, stored on a shelf or in a bin, in or out of a cabinet? All such factors must be taken into account.

Are all hazardous areas equal?
A material that is considered hazardous in one occupancy is not always considered hazardous in another. For example, a typical medical records suite in a hospital is considered a hazardous area unless it is extremely small. Such storage would be considered a normal or even a light hazard in a warehouse because a warehouse does not contain infirm persons who may be incapable of self preservation and because they have a much higher level of active fire protection due to the large amount of combustibles they contain. In accordance with NFPA 13, Installation of Sprinkler Systems, a patient-care smoke zone in a hospital is considered a light hazard occupancy that would typically have a sprinkler design density of 0.1 gallons per minute/square foot (0.4 liters per minute/0.3 square meters). By contrast, a warehouse could have sprinkler design densities six or more times that of a hospital, depending upon the items stored and their storage configuration.

Another example is a soiled linen room. Table 18.3.2.1 in the 2009 edition of the Life Safety Code requires rooms containing more than 64 gallons (242 liters) of soiled linen to be considered hazardous. But how about soiled linen in a coin-operated laundry? A coin operated laundry would generally be considered a business occupancy, and Sections 38.3.2.1 and 39.3.2.1 state that, in business occupancies, “hazardous areas including, but not limited to, areas used for general storage, boiler or furnace rooms, and maintenance shops that include woodworking and painting areas shall be protected in accordance with Section 8.7.” As in the health care occupancy chapter, the business occupancy chapter refers the reader to the base chapter, Section 8.7, for treatment of special hazards. Unlike the health care occupancy chapter, the business occupancy chapter does not have a substantial list of representative hazardous.

I would not consider soiled linen in a coin-operated laundry to be hazardous because it is not a significantly higher hazard than would otherwise be typical in the general areas of the facility. Again, there is a difference in general population and required sprinkler density. Typically, the required sprinkler density for the patient-care area is 0.1 gallons per minute/square foot (0.4 liters per minute/0.3 square meters)and 0.15 gallons per minute/square foot (0.6 liters per minute/0.3 square meters)for the laundry.

Severe hazards
Spaces can be considered a hazard, even a severe hazard. For example, Table 18.3.2.1 in the Life Safety Code has two entries for laboratories: those employing flammable or combustible materials in quantities less than those that would be considered a severe hazard, and those that use hazardous materials that would be considered a severe hazard.

According to Paragraph A.18.3.2.2 of the code,   “the hazard level of a laboratory is considered severe if quantities of flammable, combustible, or hazardous materials are present that are capable of sustaining a fire of sufficient magnitude to breach a 1-hour fire separation.”

The Life Safety Code Handbook indicates that ordinary combustibles and flammable liquids with wood-equivalent fuel loads in the range of 5 to 10 pounds/square foot (2 to 4.5 kilograms/0.09 square meters) are sufficient to threaten a 1-hour-rated fire separation and are considered a severe hazard. Severe hazards in health care occupancies may include, but are not limited to, laboratories, paint shops, chemical storage areas, and wood shops if they contain appreciable quantities of flammable or combustible materials.

Sections 18.3.2.1 and 19.3.2.1 to Section 8.7 in the 2009 edition of the Life Safety Code give the AHJ the opportunity to regulate any space judged to represent a significantly higher hazard than most spaces. Section 8.7.1.1 of the 2009 edition of the Life Safety Code Handbook states “the authority having jurisdiction is responsible for determining the criteria that define a hazardous area.” The handbook commentary does not indicate that the AHJ defines a space as hazardous; rather, the AHJ determines the criteria that define a hazardous area. This certainly is a technical subject that the facility’s fire protection engineer should evaluate and negotiate with the AHJ.   

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