- This event has passed.
MACSC July Meeting: Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) plan
Presented by Robert C. Albrecht, Executive EHS Manager for Signature Safety, LLC for the Midatlantic region.
Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) plan, is a set of guidelines and practices that help reduce the risk of infection transmission during construction or renovation projects in healthcare settings . The goal of an ICRA plan is to protect the health of patients, visitors, and staff by identifying and controlling the effects of construction or renovation activities on air and water quality. A newer approach is called a Pre-Construction Infection Control Assessment (PICRA) and ICRA 2.0, both are very similar with some nuances that will briefly be discussed in the body of content.
The presentation will discuss the elements of a traditional ICRA plan that involves the regulatory requirements and the following steps:
- Identify risk groups: Determine which patient groups are at risk based on construction activities
- Determine precautions: Decide on the appropriate class of precautions to take
- Establish incident reporting: Create a process for reporting any incidents
- Analyze potential contaminants: Consider every possible source of dust or construction contaminant that could spread through the facility
- Implement controls: Design and put in place measures to reduce health risks
Presenters Bio: Robert Albrecht is a seasoned Occupational Safety and Health professional with over 34 years of experience that includes industrial hygiene, large civil construction projects, CSHO for a State OSHA program and over 10 years working in healthcare systems. He is the Executive EHS Manager for Signature Safety, LLC for the Midatlantic region. During his employment for General Contractors Robert worked on $45 to $900 million projects as Area Safety Manager and Site Safety and Health Officer.
After moving into the healthcare sector while at Johns Hopkins, his skills were applied for managing all ICRA design, review and implementing in ambulatory and non-ambulatory healthcare settings. Robert then became the director of Life Safety for the largest hospital in Washington DC and was quickly placed as the acting Assistant Vice President of Support Services. This position included managing all occupational safety and health, ICRA, life safety, hazardous wastes, environmental services and training for over 4,000 staff.
Robert presently holds a Certified Healthcare Environmental Management certification, an AAS in Occupational Safety and Health Technology from a NIOSH accredited program, a BS in Legal Studies with a minor in Environmental Occupational Safety and Health from the University of Maryland University College.