LESSON 1
PRINCIPLES OF OPERATING THE SAFETY ANALYZER
1-1.
GENERAL
The National Fire Code in the National Fire Protection Act (NFPA 99) requires that
you perform electrical safety tests to ensure that medical equipment used for patients
meets the specific safety standards. For this lesson, leakage current, resistance voltage,
and other measurement limits have been established. However, the final authority for
standards is the current NFPA 99.
a. Testing the Patient Environment and Patient-Care-Related Electrical
Equipment. You use the Model 232 safety analyzer to make measurements which
determine if the patient environment and patient-care-related electrical equipment meet
safety standards. A patient environment is a space occupied by a patient and extending 6
feet beyond the vicinity and 7 feet 6 inches vertically above the floor. Patient-care-related
electrical equipment is electrical equipment intended to be used for diagnostic, therapeutic,
or monitoring purposes in a patient environment. Equipment found in the patient
environment includes, but is not limited to the following:
(1) X-ray equipment.
(2) Electrocardiograph (ECG).
(3) Dental X-ray equipment.
(4) Dental equipment.
(5) Clinical equipment.
(6) Laboratory equipment.
(7) Ward equipment.
(8) Operating room equipment.
(9) Central material supply equipment.
b. Types of Environmental Tests. These environmental tests include the
measurement of power system voltages, voltage gradient/grounding differential in millivolts
(mv), and intergrounding resistances in milliohms (mOhms).
MD0356
1-2