AORN Urges CMS to Adopt 2024 NFPA Health Care Facilities Code

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is joining the surgical smoke safety movement by including a requirement to capture surgical smoke at the source in operating rooms nationwide in its 2024 edition of the NFPA 99, Health Care Facilities Code. (Please create a free account to log in).

Section 9.3.8 Medical Plume (Surgical Smoke) Evacuation and Filtration, now requires health care facilities to capture surgical smoke as close as possible to the source. Facilities may use a dedicated local exhaust ventilation system, connection to return or exhaust duct after air cleaning through ultra-low particulate air (ULPA) and gas phase filtration (e.g., activated carbon), a surgical smoke evacuation tool at the point of use, and/or (for small amounts of surgical smoke plume only) a medical-surgical vacuum system with an in-line filter with ULPA and gas filtration.

The NFPA 101: Life Safety Code was also updated for 2024. With these updates, AORN has urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to require compliance with the newest editions of NFPA 101 and NFPA 99 to both reduce regulatory burdens on hospitals and improve staff and patient safety.

As hospitals are built or remodeled, they are required by their state and local jurisdictions to comply with current building codes, which will now include the 2024 editions of the NFPA 101: Life Safety Code and NFPA 99: Health Care Facilities Code.  When CMS requires compliance earlier code editions, and other jurisdictions require adherence to 2024 codes, health care facilities can face significant challenge and expense in meeting the conflicting requirements.

AORN has joined the American Society of Healthcare Engineers and the American Hospital Association in asking CMS to alleviate this burden by updating its Conditions of Participation and Conditions for Coverage to reference the newest editions of the Life Safety Code and the Health Care Facilities Code going forward.

AORN members should communicate the new NFPA 99 requirement to capture surgical smoke at the source to risk management personnel, health care facilities administration, and to all surgical services department leads, medical staff committees, and purchasing departments. “We are pleased to see the National Fire Protection Association join OSHA and The Joint Commission in recognizing the harms to operating room personnel that ongoing exposure to surgical smoke causes. This 2024 Code is one more tool in our arsenal to move all health care facilities toward 100% compliance and to truly be smoke-free facilities,” states Jennifer Pennock, AORN Associate Director of Government Affairs.

Check out AORN government affairs’ surgical smoke webpage to learn more about education and resources on surgical smoke initiatives and compliance.