Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Life Safety Code

1. I have heard the term "life safety code or (LSC)" used when referring to fire safety requirements in various health care facilities and settings. What exactly is a "life safety code" and how is it used to protect users of these facilities?
    

   The LSC is a set of fire protection requirements designed to provide a reasonable degree of safety from fire. The standards found in the code cover construction, protection, and operational features designed to establish minimum requirements that will provide safety from fire, smoke, and panic. The LSC is a publication of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Beyond such institutional settings as nursing facilities that are Medicaid or Medicare participating, the LSC is also applied to hospitals (42 CFR Part 482.41(b)), inpatient hospices (42 CFR Part 418.100(d)), and ambulatory surgical centers (42 CFR Part 416.44(b)).

2. I understand that the national code keeps changing, but that the Ohio Department of Health still relies on the 1985 version of the LSC. Why doesn’t the department update the standards under which they inspect? 
    

   Although the LSC has been revised over the years, currently, the basic requirement for facilities participating in the Medicare and/or Medicaid programs is compliance with the 1985 edition of the code with "grandfather" clauses for certain facilities back to the 1967, 1973, or 1981 codes. Which code to apply is not a determination that the ODH can make on its own. As the state survey agency, the ODH is an "agent" of the federal government’s Health Care Financing Administration. As such, ODH must follow the federal protocols, and those protocols still require the 1985 LSC as noted above.

3. Does this mean that new construction in Ohio has to follow the older 1985 code rather than building to the specifications of the newer code?
    

   No. HCFA put out interpretative guidance in 1990 that provides that the newer code may be used to design a building, but that, when surveyed under the Medicare regulations, a provider would have to request a waiver of the 1985 requirements for those items permitted under the newer code, but contrary to the 1985 code. One provision of this exception, however, is that a provider opting for the newer code would have to meet all of the standards under that code and not "pick and choose" from among the older and newer standards.
    

Last Updated: 5/9/01