ENDOSCOPE DECONTAMINATION UNITS


maintain temperatures and humidity for staff comfort. (Controlled environment storage cabinets are susceptible to failure where room temperatures become excessive).2,9 The supply air quality to the room(s)


is determined by the outdoor air quality at the site’s location, and the occupancy of the room. Occupancy is likely to be continuous for the washroom, and thus compliant with BS EN 16789: SUP2, and intermittent for the scope storage room, and thus compliant with BS EN 16798: SUP3.10,11


The Specialised Ventilation


An example of alarm monitor panels recording a safe (left), and an unsafe (right), environment.


4) To preserve the quality of endoscopes that have been decontaminated. To fulfil these purposes, air will need


to be supplied and extracted with the correct pressure cascade to ensure that air flows from the clean, to the less clean, areas of the facility. The ventilation system should be designed, installed, validated, maintained, and operated, to ensure that contaminants arising from the decontamination process are contained and removed. The appropriate pressure cascade will be achieved by supplying filtered air to the clean areas, and maintaining them at a positive pressure with respect to surrounding areas, and by extracting air from the less clean areas and maintaining them at a negative pressure with respect to surrounding areas.


Chemical contaminants Chemical contaminants arising from the decontamination process must be


captured at source, and removed before they enter the workplace. Ventilation should be provided by an air-handling unit that conforms to the standards set out in HTM 03-01 (2021), Parts A and B.8


The design should consider the


environmental heat load, equipment, and staff occupancy in the working space. Ideally the AHU supply and extract should be a dedicated plant. A ‘once through’ system which does not recirculate any potentially contaminated air should be used, along with a heat recovery system. The decontamination facility should be specified as in HBN 13, e.g. it should be sealed, with no opening windows or shelves.3


Energy efficiency strategies


should be considered. Should the AHU supply other parts of the building, then the branch serving the endoscope decontamination facility should have flow control dampers. Appropriate environmental controls are essential to


for Healthcare Society document, SVHSoc-02, gives a method for selecting an appropriate filter.12


Air change rates The decontamination facility will require a minimum of 10 air changes / hour to control possible airborne contamination. The AHU will be fitted with an energy recovery device, but, due to possible contamination of the extracted air by peracetic acid, a thermal wheel should not be used. Decontamination facilities can be single or double rooms. There should be a flow of endoscopes from the wash area to the clean area, with air flowing from the clean to the wash side of the room. In the washroom (or wash area of a


single room), one must consider the protection of staff from the contaminated endoscopes, which present a potential biological hazard when handling and undertaking manual washing. Manual cleaning in accordance with appropriate guidance, i.e. the manufacturer’s instructions for use (IFU) and BSG (in full), minimises the risks of splashing and aerosol production, while the correct airflow provides additional assurance for staff working in the washroom. Consideration must be given to air leakage across or through the pass-through EWD, and the interlocked pass-through hatch that may be positioned in any dividing wall.


A ventilation control panel – providing local status indications and boost operation capability.


An example of a low-level extract adjacent to the endoscope washer- disinfector.


Permeability test On completion of the installation, the facility should be subjected to a permeability test to check the room air leakage. 1) The test pressure should be +50 Pascal (Pa), followed by -50 (Pa). The acceptable leakage rate will be 1 litre /m3 of the facility envelope averaged across the two tests. 2) In the case of a double room layout, the clean endoscope storage room should then be subject to a permeability test designed to measure the leakage across the wall between it and the washroom. To conduct this test, the entrance door, room supply terminal, and pressure stabiliser, should be taped up to eliminate air leakage through them. The test will be as for the suite permeability above.13


June 2022 Health Estate Journal 33


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