RECENT NEWS

Wall and floor coverings supplier, Altro, has won a Green Apple Environment Award from The Green Organisation, an independent, non-profit environment group “dedicated to recognising and promoting environmental best practice”, for its “6 Steps to Sustainability Programme”

The British Institute of facilities Management (BIFM) says it is actively considering applying for chartered body status, with its Board having agreed to set up a working group to look at the costs, benefits, and feasibility.

Following its recent appointment as a GS1 Solutions Partner (GS1 is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that works to improve supply chain efficiency, for instance by developing global barcode and RFID standards), SATO UK has received GS1 certification for its newly developed patient wristband identification system.

Vernacare director Lesley Webster (left) and CEO Karen Haslam were congratulated by the Queen at a recent celebration event for 2011 Queen’s Award for Enterprise winners at Buckingham Palace, with the company’s Award (HEJ – June 2011) recognising its development of “the world’s first detergent-proof disposable wash bowl”.

With the next five years set to see over 40 new hospitals built in Singapore and Malaysia, Adrian Parkin, MD at Howorth Air Technology, the specialists in clean air for healthcare, has recently returned from a busy trip “putting the final touches” to the company’s new Howorth regional headquarters in Jurong East in Singapore.

Brandon Medical’s Symposia CoPAX system is an integrated control and display system that combines the display and distribution of high definition (HD) laparoscope images, audio-visual control and display functions, operating theatre records and PACS review, into a “clean, hygienic” single integrated wall unit.

A new on-site calibration service for biomedical test and measurement equipment has been introduced by Rigel Medical.

Rockfon’s new “enhanced and extended” MediCare modular ceiling range is HTM 60-compliant in categories 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Air quality “appears to have been virtually ignored” in the British Standards Institute’s (BSI) new Publicly Available Specification, (PAS) 5748, which “provides a framework for the planning, application, and measurement of cleanliness in hospitals”, a leading UK ventilation duct cleaning specialist claims.

Members of IHEEM’s Welsh Branch recently toured the Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr in Caerphilly – set, on its completion this month, to be one of Wales’ first two hospitals to feature single-bed en suite rooms, and the largest new hospital currently under construction in the Principality.

Making increasing use of “internet exchange platforms”, such as LinkedIn, to enhance communication between European Members, an update on speaker and delegate numbers for the forthcoming IFHE 4th European Conference.

Risk management was in the spotlight at a recent IHEEM seminar held at Southampton General Hospital.

Members of IHEEM’s Scottish Branch have recently enjoyed two interesting hospital visits.

EngineeringUK’s Board has published details of revised Annual Registration Fees for 2012 for the four professional engineering “grades” – CEng, IEng, EngTech, and ICTTech – based on what its says are “the funding needs” of both the organisation itself and the Engineering Council.

A delegation from the Ministry of Health in Malaysia recently visited the UK to understand more about UK healthcare estates and facilities policy and systems.

The Institute’s Autumn 2011 seminar programme will again include a range of topics which both IHEEM members and non-members will find relevant and stimulating. All seminars contribute towards CPD, and a certificate is presented on completion.

Networking is a key element of the Healthcare Estates conference, and delegates are encouraged to make the most of all the opportunities to meet their peers and exchange views.

Sustainability, and how the NHS as a whole can take effective action to make its operations “greener”, will be strongly in focus at this year’s Healthcare Estates conference in Manchester, with BRE, the expert research-based consultancy, testing and training organisation which addresses all aspects of the built environment, set to lead a plenary session and a stream dedicated to this key area.

Horne Engineering, designer and manufacturer of specialist thermostatic products for healthcare, has invested in a new product demonstration van to bring installed products to specifiers, estates managers, FM providers, and other stakeholders.

Electric arc flash, or 'electrical flashover', is one of the most deadly, least understood hazards of electricity in the workplace, and prevalent in most industries.