Facilities managers in care homes have the dual task of maintaining operational integrity and ensuring the safety of residents in care homes. While this is a moral imperative which runs to the very core of assisted living businesses, there is also a statutory responsibility here. To add an extra layer of protection for the elderly, disabled, and vulnerable, care home owners and operators can expect to face heavy penalties for failure to meet their obligations.
While maintenance routines will differ from one facility to the next, there are a few core maintenance areas managers can use as a checklist for compliance, general safety, and to achieve high-performance operations.
1. Ventilation, heating, and HVAC
COVID-19 has underscored the importance of maintaining good ventilation and regularly serviced systems. Ventilation filters need to be changed or cleaned and boiler pipes checked at intervals. In addition, air conditioners need to be checked every five years for energy management purposes. The good running of these systems has health implications for care home residents – but is also imperative for comfort throughout the year and as the seasons change.
2. Trip and slip hazards
Falls are the leading cause of injury amongst the elderly and, in some cases, can be fatal. Trips and slips can also be extremely debilitating, often going in-hand with long recovery periods and untold mental strain. Monitoring and maintenance of different surfaces can mitigate the risk of injury by removing hazards and addressing potential trip hazards on internal floors, stairs, and outdoor pathways and parking lots.
(Top tip: things like gutter maintenance and leak monitoring can prevent floor surfaces from becoming slippery and hazardous.)
3. Legionella maintenance
Legionnaires’ Disease is the most serious of the diseases carried by legionella bacteria. This bacteria flourishes in stagnant water between 20 and 50°C – and unused pipework, storage tanks, and scale and rust make particularly good breeding grounds. The need for anti-scald equipment poses an additional risk for care homes too. A risk assessment will guide care homes on compliance, which will involve regular temperature monitoring and thorough long-term record-keeping. Britain has seen some legionella-related deaths in recent years, which is traumatic for families and costly for care home owners who faced punitive fines.
4. Fire safety
Fire safety maintenance needs to be done on an ongoing basis to avert potential tragedy and to remain compliant. This includes extinguisher and fire door checks, as well as maintained emergency lighting and electrical maintenance.
5. Winter maintenance
Winter maintenance requires a multi-faceted approach – and it is good practice to tackle these tasks systematically and in advance of winter months. With rain and ice comes a heightened risk of trips and slips, which makes roof and floor maintenance, gutter cleaning, and landscaping important as the mercury drops. Boilers should be kept in the best working order and insulation should be checked.
With darker days, lighting becomes more critical in resident safety. On top of this, doors and windows should get a once-over to see how they perform from an insulation perspective (a good opportunity to assess their effectiveness for security purposes). These are all details which can be built into your maintenance regime.
Voltix Services offers a comprehensive range of facilities maintenance services for care homes. Partner with our team of maintenance professionals to achieve total compliance, streamlined operations, and potential cost-savings through a culture of thorough preventative maintenance. Contact us today.