Maritime Maintenance Requirements for Medical Oxygen Systems
It’s important to always remember that medical gas & vacuum systems – especially medical oxygen systems – are life safety systems where a failure, misuse or accident can result in major injury or death to patients and/or staff.
The safe, reliable operation of your systems is the obvious priority, but I remind my customers to also think in terms of liability. In the event of a system failure or accident, would you be comfortable that you had a program in place to show you had done all that was reasonably expected to reduce the likelihood of this?
Keep in mind, these are mechanical systems subject to normal wear and tear, and like all mechanical systems they require regular inspection and maintenance to ensure reliability. While it’s impossible to guarantee reliability of a mechanical system, a regular preventative maintenance program can give you peace of mind that your system will operate safely as designed when needed. These systems have valves, regulators, gauges, sensors, fittings, piping, alarms, threaded connections, O-rings, etc., where the failure of any of these components could render the system inoperable or unsafe for use. From a practical standpoint, identifying and repairing minor leaks will save you added cost of replacing oxygen cylinders more than necessary.
Maritime requirements for medical oxygen and associated systems are defined by the various flag state authorities. The requirements are typically general, but aspects can vary across jurisdictions; the black letter code can be vague, confusing, or contradictory.
So, to ensure compliance with the various requirements, and ensure the safe, reliable operation of these systems, it’s important to engage someone with the qualifications and practical experience to interpret and help you apply the requirements.
Our standard PM program includes an annual safety inspection and focuses on the safe operation of the system including the manifold or other source(s) of supply, alarm activation, delivery pressure and flow, regulators, gauges, leaks, etc. The program is based on guidance defined by accepted medical gas codes and standards such as NFPA 99 Health Care Facilities Code (US) and Health Technical Memorandum 02-01: Medical Gas Pipeline Systems (UK). Technicians have years of practical experience with these systems and maintain all required qualifications compliant with these codes.
