MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
various levels of access. Payne is automatically notified when a staff member or outside contractor registers on the website. An access level is provided for each new registrant that allows them to access the site to a degree based on their role. Security levels allow certain users to view only the information without the ability to make changes or modifications. Other users can edit the information. All access is tracked and logged. The hospital put the system to use as soon as it was online and immediately began to realise the value generated by these features (Figure 1).
Keeping information current Electrical and mechanical equipment in the facility is constantly being maintained, replaced, relocated or removed. Documenting the changes to the equipment can be an onerous task since staff may not have the technical resources and time to accomplish this. With accurate system information, the hospital can review any future design for construction. “We can review how the equipment is affected by planned construction, avoiding contract changes and the effect on schedule and cost that goes with them,” says Payne. “Our staff use EMMA almost on a daily basis. Since all modifications are made in the browser, in real time, moving or deleting can be done with a simple click or drag and drop operation,” he continues. “Changes are made as they occur. Our panel schedules can be updated on site with a tablet and the changes are updated in the database. When panel covers are removed, we take pictures of the circuit feeders so that we know how to properly identify spare circuits. Whenever any modifications are made in EMMA, the system logs what was changed, who made the changes and when. I can pull up a report in Excel that provides the change history for a specific piece of equipment
Figure 2: The modification log tracks all changes made to the system.
or a report for all changes to all equipment based on a date range,” he adds (Figure 2). “Having our panel schedule circuit
listing accurate and up to date really helps when we have to find capacity and spare circuits for lighting, receptacles or new equipment,” says Payne. “We have started to add load profile data from our data loggers as part of the panel properties in EMMA. When a new circuit is needed, we filter our database search to find the panels that have the spare capacity and circuits required (Figure 3). It really helps us when the search results show exactly where they are located on the floor plan. It takes out all the guesswork and saves a lot of time.” Outside contractors who carry out
maintenance work and troubleshooting also use the system. “By giving them ‘view only’ access, they can find specific equipment on their own,” adds Payne. “They really don’t need to rely on help from our staff as much. That’s a good thing.”
Electrical shutdown management As part of a large expansion project, the hospital installed four new chillers and a boiler and added a new incoming service transformer. Major shutdowns were required to remove old cooling equipment and to tie in the new transformers. By having all the connection relationships between the equipment and the loads served by each, the ‘isolation report’ option generates a complete report of all equipment affected by the isolated equipment including connections, locations and a service summary, right down to the panel schedule circuit descriptions (Figures 4 and 5). With all equipment located, it was easy
Figure 3: Electrical panel schedule; each circuit can be edited in the field and becomes searchable in the database.
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to identify alternate power sources when required. They were able to manage risk by running multiple “What if?” scenarios. According to Payne, “We estimated it saved us 60 per cent in terms of resources and time for 300 man hours. Without EMMA we would need to dedicate staff to
investigate all the implications of isolating a piece of distribution equipment. You can’t use trial and error in a healthcare environment. We are also able to log notes, pictures and attachments for each equipment item,” he continues. “This saves us time and resources when future shutdowns involve the same equipment. We don’t have to do the same things twice. Also, in the event of an unplanned equipment failure we can act quickly to understand the implications of the crisis, notify all staff and stakeholders affected and determine the best option to quickly manage the situation,” he adds.
Other infrastructure systems The hospital has now implemented EMMA for medical gas and domestic water distribution. The same principles and features apply to these systems. The isolation points consist of valves instead of panels, switches and breakers. The searchable database provides the location of any valves along with their parent and child dependencies. An isolation report can be generated by selecting a valve. As with the electricity, a service summary details all the areas that are affected by the valve operation. In the event of a leak in the water distribution system, it can quickly pinpoint the nearest isolation valve so that isolation of the main riser valves can be avoided and other staff or departments are not affected by the leak. Payne is also using EMMA to locate
panels for nurse call, door access, fire alarm and air handling controls. “We simply create the service type and drag
Outside contractors who provide
maintenance work and troubleshooting also use the system
IFHE DIGEST 2018
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