Preface
This is the second edition of CSA Standard Z32.4 (now CAN/CSA-Z32.4), Essential Electrical Systems for Hospitals, superseding the previous edition published in 1978. It is one of a series of Standards dealing with the use of electricity in hospitals, and is written in SI (metric) units.
The need for this Standard is predicated upon the fact that medical and nursing sciences are becoming progressively more dependent upon electrical apparatus for the preservation of the lives of hospitalized patients. Cardiac procedures, for example, are being performed daily throughout Canada in ever-increasing numbers. In some, the patient's life depends on artificial circulation of the blood; in others, electrically operated equipment is used to sustain life, eg, a breathing machine, or to provide continuous patient monitoring and give timely warnings to the attending staff. In another sense, lighting is needed in strategic areas in order that precise procedures may be carried out, and electrical power is needed to safeguard such vital services as refrigerated stores held in tissue, bone, and blood banks.
The Committees that developed this Standard recognized that, in the design of a hospital, due consideration should be given to the factors that influence the continuity of the electrical supply and recognized that some of these may be of a relatively catastrophic nature, eg, storms, floods, fires, earthquakes, etc. As will be evident from the requirements in this Standard, the Committees did not undertake to evaluate all the possibilities or to devise a Standard for an essential electrical system that is capable of coping with them all. Rather, the Standard represents a consensus on the minimum requirements to which an essential electrical system should conform so as to make a reasonable provision for the safety of
(a) the patients in the care of a hospital;
(b) the public; and
(c) the hospital staff.
This Standard was prepared by the Subcommittee on Essential Electrical Systems in Health Care Facilities under the jurisdiction of the Technical Committee on Electrical Installations in Health Care Facilities and was formally approved by both the Technical Committee and the Standards Steering Committee on Health Care Technology. It has been approved as a National Standard of Canada by the Standards Council of Canada.
Scope and Purpose
1.1
This Standard applies to the design, installation, operation, and maintenance of those portions of a hospital electrical system in which the interruption of the normal supply would jeopardize the effective and safe care of its patients, the safety of hospital staff, and the public.
1.2
This Standard includes requirements for the installation of a hospital electrical system referred to in Clause 1.1 that are not dealt with in CSA Standard C22.1.
1.3
This Standard does not include requirements for uninterruptible power supplies.
Note: Examples of uninterruptible power supplies are those needed for certain computer equipment applications, eg, a mini-computer involved in patient treatment by external feedback control and those computers involved in monitoring the critically ill. Computer users and manufacturers who are aware of the volatile nature of computer operations employ uninterruptible power supplies in critical areas.
1.4
This Standard does not apply to nursing homes or residential, custodial care facilities.
1.5
The purpose of this Standard is to reduce the hazards to patients, hospital staff, and the public that may arise upon interruption of the normal electrical supply of a hospital.
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