Encompass Insights

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is the main federal agency “charged with the enforcement of safety and health legislation.” They assure safe and healthful working conditions by “setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.”

It’s a part of the United States Department of Labor, and employers need to be sure that both their practices and their facilities meet or exceed OSHA standards.

Maintaining your facility is time consuming enough, which is why it might be wise to consider outsourcing all of your strategic sourcing needs.

Encompass Onsite (EO) can take finding the right suppliers off your plate in order to save you time and spare you the stress, all the while ensuring minimal disruptions, high levels of service, and continuity of service.

We’ll work with your team to implement procurement best practices, provide category intelligence and increase spend visibility.

Mold. It can cause serious health problems and damage your facility, which is why quick and efficient mold remediation is so important.

In order to guard the health of your facility and those who occupy and/or work in it, here are the potential threats of and how to prevent and remediate mold growth.

It’s unavoidable. Emergency situations will arise.

They’re time consuming, stressful, and they often seem to happen at the worst possible moments.

Even though you can’t control if and when they occur, you can control how you deal with them.

One of the best ways to ensure you’re ready when an emergency does happen is to have a facility emergency response plan in place and a team on call. Having this additional support only a phone call away can help you feel less stressed. What’s more, you’ll rest easy knowing that the situation will be handled quickly and appropriately.

You know your healthcare facility is up to snuff, meets all legal and professional requirements and is operating smoothly, but how do you let others know?

One of the best ways in which you can truly showcase the level of excellence your facility is committed to is through certifications and accreditations. One of the most important of which, for healthcare facilities, is the JCAHO accreditation. 

JCAHO, or the Joint Commission on Accreditation, Health Care, and Certification, is “an independent nonprofit that accredits and certifies nearly 21,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States.” 

Ensuring fire protection and life safety systems are functioning and properly maintained is one of the most important aspects of a facility manager’s job.

Even though modern systems are incredibly reliable, they still need to meet code compliance and performance standards.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the Life Safety Code (LSC) is meant to help facilities specify “construction and operational conditions to minimize fire hazards and provide a safety system in case of fire.”

It’s important that those who enter your facility, whether staff, visitors or occupants, are able to move around easily and safely.

One way you can ensure this crucial managed service is up to par is to perform regular maintenance on your elevators and escalators.

Here’s why these transportation devices need to be checked regularly, their most common malfunctions, and how you can ensure they’re operating properly.

As we mentioned in a previous post, making regulatory compliance a priority at your facility is paramount.

If you’re outsourcing your facility maintenance services, it’s crucial that you hire a service provider that is dedicated to meeting the highest standards of compliance and performance. 

One of the most important of these credentials is compliance with LEED EBOM regulations.

In last week’s post we discussed how important it is to understand your facility’s cost structures, especially when it comes to staffing. We also covered employee health care, performance, stability, and retention.

This week we’re answering the question: When it comes to deciding between hiring full and part-time employees, how do you quantify your decision? 

There is no cookie-cutter answer for how you balance your team. It requires a deep understanding of your operations and your people. Nonetheless, here's how you might make a more informed decision. 

Understanding the financial and operational structures of your facility and how they go hand in hand can save you money.

One issue that regularly comes up when it comes to cost structure and planning is staffing, and whether full-time or part-time employees provide the bigger bang for your buck.

So what are the common misconceptions behind this debate and what is actually more cost effective?

Let’s take a look.