Nurse-Call & Emergency-Call System Install SWMS

Nurse-call and emergency-call system installation is the work that installs and commissions a hard-wired patient-alarm system in a hospital or aged-care facility: call points, over-door lights, staff stations, cabling above ceilings, and integration with fire and other systems. The dominant hazards are falls running cabling and fixing devices above ceilings and at height, electric shock where extra-low-voltage cabling interfaces with mains or patient-area electrical, a confined or restricted ceiling space, and a system-assurance failure where a call is not received by staff at commissioning. This SWMS covers the cabling, devices, staff stations and commissioning; it does not cover the system's design, the clinical response process it supports, or the base-building electrical and fire systems beyond the interface, which are documented separately.

Under the model Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and the harmonised Work Health and Safety Regulations adopted in each state and territory, this is high risk construction work because it is carried out where a person can fall more than two metres running high-level cabling, on or near energised electrical services where the system interfaces with mains or patient-area electrical, and in or near a confined ceiling space; Victoria operates the equivalent provisions under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017. The patient-alarm system follows AS 3811 for design, installation and performance, the patient-area interface follows AS/NZS 3003, and the wiring follows AS/NZS 3000.

Failure to meet the primary duty of care is prosecuted under the Category 1 to 3 offences in the Work Health and Safety Act (and the equivalent provisions in Victoria's Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004), with maximum penalties indexed in most jurisdictions, imprisonment available for individuals, and a separate industrial manslaughter offence; current figures follow the prevailing penalty schedule of the responsible state regulator. This document is structured to satisfy the safe work method statement content requirements of the harmonised regulations and documents controlled installation and commissioning.

Hazards identified

9 hazards covered, sorted by priority.

Control measures

Hierarchy-of-controls order: elimination → substitution → isolation → engineering → administrative → PPE.

1. 1Engineering: Use a scaffold, elevating work platform or rated ladder for the task with edge protection running cabling and fixing devices, with a fall-arrest harness where a residual fall risk remains.
2. 2Elimination: Isolate and lock out before work, test before touch, and apply the AS/NZS 3003 patient-area requirements where the system interfaces with mains or patient-area electrical, using a licensed electrician under permit.
3. 3Elimination: Work from outside the ceiling space where possible; otherwise ventilate and use a confined-space permit where it applies, with a standby person.
4. 4Engineering: Use mechanical aids for cable reels, panels and staff stations, with two-person handling; wear gloves and footwear.
5. 5Engineering: Commission and test every call point to AS 3811, verifying integration, over-door indication and that a call is received by staff before handover.
6. 6Engineering: Deburr cable tray and sheet metal and handle safely; wear cut-resistant gloves.
7. 7Engineering: Minimise disturbance of ceiling-space dust and insulation, with housekeeping; wear a P2 respirator.
8. 8Engineering: Use debris containment, with exclusion below and tool lanyards; persons below wear a hard hat.
9. 9Engineering: Manage cabling and tools with housekeeping; wear safety footwear.

Applicable Codes of Practice

High-Risk Construction Work triggered

Worked example

A communications contractor is installing a hard-wired nurse-call and emergency-call system in an aged-care wing: call points and over-door lights in each room, staff stations, cabling run above the ceilings, and integration with the fire system. The work is high risk construction work because it is carried out at a height where a person can fall more than two metres running high-level cabling, on or near energised electrical services where the system interfaces with mains and patient-area electrical, and in or near a confined ceiling space, so the contractor builds the safe work method statement around work at height, the electrical interface, the ceiling space and system assurance. Cabling is run and devices fixed from a scaffold, elevating work platform or rated ladder with edge protection, debris containment and tool lanyards, and cable reels, panels and staff stations are handled with mechanical aids and two-person handling. Where the extra-low-voltage cabling interfaces with mains or patient-area electrical, the work is done only after isolation and lock-out by a licensed electrician who tests before touch and applies the AS/NZS 3003 patient-area requirements. The ceiling space is worked from outside where possible, or under a confined-space permit with a standby person and ventilation, and ceiling-space dust and insulation are minimised with a P2 respirator. At commissioning, every call point is tested to AS 3811 and the integration, over-door indication and receipt of the call at the staff station are verified, because a call that is not received by staff is a patient-safety failure. Workers sign on to the statement before starting, the commissioning and call-point test records are kept, and the signed statement is held on site for the responsible state regulator.

Related legislation

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (harmonised; enacted in all states and territories except Victoria, which applies the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004), s.19 — Primary duty of care to workers and to other persons at or near the workplace
• Harmonised Work Health and Safety Regulations, section 291 — Defines high risk construction work (Victoria: Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017, Part 5.1)
• Harmonised Work Health and Safety Regulations, section 299 — Content and review requirements for a safe work method statement for high risk construction work (Victoria: regulation 327; Tasmania: regulation 312)
• Harmonised Work Health and Safety Regulations, Part 4.4 — Managing the risk of falls (work above two metres; Victoria applies the equivalent provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017)
• Harmonised Work Health and Safety Regulations, Part 4.7 — Electrical safety: the prohibition on energised electrical work except where de-energising is not reasonably practicable and the prescribed conditions are met (Victoria applies the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 and state electrical-safety legislation)
• AS/NZS 3003 — Electrical installations in patient areas: requirements where the nurse-call system interfaces with patient-area electrical

Frequently asked questions