Geoff Halliday, Business consultant at WB Power Services, discusses the practical application of the guidance in HTM 06 to standby generators, the variance with how diesel generators are designed and built, and how some of the most common apparent ambiguities or variances can readily be overcome. He also discusses the generators’ critical role in the event of a utility power failure.
WB Power Services has a long and proud history of supplying standby generation solutions to the NHS and wider healthcare sector. Over many years the company has installed a large number of generating sets, both large and small, in applications ranging from basic containers to complex plant room installations. During this period, the business has acquired a significant experience base within its sales, project installation, and service teams. For those outside the day-to-day working of this sector, the size and scale of standby generation in a hospital setting is an unknown quantity. For those working from within the sector, on the other hand, the installation of a standby generating set probably isn't an everyday occurrence, so this article seeks — from the standpoint of a specialist standby diesel generator installer, to 'highlight, explain and clarify':
The starting point of any design should be with the relevant standards or guidance documents, which in this case — for Secondary Power Sources in healthcare settings — is HTM-06 (2017), and in the case of standby diesel generators, BS ISO 8528 (updated in 2018). As with any specification, BS ISO 8528 sets out the basic minimum standards for the equipment (some manufacturers exceed these), and often doesn't move quickly enough in terms of recognising more cutting-edge product developments. For example, this can be across engine performance or market requirements, and has the tendency to look out of date even when newly published. It is likely to be a similar problem with some aspects of HTM 06, particularly as it is a guidance document, and by the nature of the review period, will not take into consideration more recent advances in technology and changes in the law; for example recent changes in emissions requirements.
Hospitals are of course true 24/7 operations, forming a critical part of the local, regional, and national infrastructure, and varying greatly in terms of physical size, bed capacity, building age, and scope of services offered in that location etc. In the UK healthcare sector the Health Technical Memoranda (HTMs) are there to 'give comprehensive advice and guidance on the design, installation, and operation, of specialised building and engineering technology used in the delivery of healthcare'.
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