Maintaining control is team's vital role

In an environment where there is an ever-increasing use of reliable electronic control, it is easy to become complacent about the need for in-depth knowledge of how the controls actually work. After all, experts who can diagnose and fix such systems are only a phone call away, and a new unit can easily be fitted. Sometimes this is not the case at Bendigo Health, as we have a number of systems with a "black box" set of controls that can take days, or weeks, to fix, and cannot be fixed locally. To better manage and maintain our infrastructure, the Buildings & Infrastructure Department at Bendigo Health includes a number of employees who concentrate on building management systems (BMS). The BMS group plays a vital role in the complete lifecycle of projects that include control and monitoring of the plant within the hospital setting. A good example of this role was in the design, build, installation and commissioning, of two new negative pressure suites at Bendigo Health. The BMS group's involvement in this particular project included the door interlocking, the air conditioning and exhaust fan control, and a comprehensive alarm panel and overrides, all of which can be monitored centrally via the existing BMS system. The involvement of the BMS group, following the DHS guidelines, resulted in the architect and consulting engineers revisiting their designs and improving them to the benefit of both patient care and staff safety. The advantages of projects such as the negative pressure suites installed by the BMS group include the fact that that the hospital gains facilities that work correctly and according to industry guidelines; and the design, installation, and controls of the plant are understood by the people who will be maintaining the infrastructure. This paper will provide an overview of the work undertaken by the BMS group at Bendigo Health, using the negative pressure suites as an exemplar.