Electrical design in hospitals: best practices to ensure safety and efficiency

Hospital electrical design is a critical component of hospital infrastructure. It is not only about bringing electricity to all areas, but also about ensuring that continuity of supply is maintained even in the face of power failures, protecting the lives of patients and the integrity of medical equipment.

In hospitals, any electrical interruption can directly affect operating rooms, ICUs, laboratories and emergency rooms, where the failure of an electrical system can have serious consequences. Therefore, designing a hospital electrical system involves detailed planning, regulatory compliance, integration of modern technologies, and ongoing preventive maintenance.

This article details best practices for designing a safe, reliable and efficient hospital electrical system.

Planning an electrical system begins with a thorough analysis of the specific needs of each area. Not all areas of a hospital have the same power requirements: an operating room requires continuous and redundant power, while a corridor or administrative area has much lower needs.

Key steps in the assessment

1. Identification of available power sources: determine whether conventional grid power, emergency generators, UPS or auxiliary solar systems are available. This helps plan for redundancy and reliability.
2. Electrical load estimation: Each medical equipment, lighting and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system should be accounted for to calculate the total load and size transformers, panels and conductors.
3. Electrical risk detection: Evaluate possible risks of overloads, short circuits or insulation failures, in order to establish adequate protections.
4. Prioritization of critical areas: Classify areas according to their criticality, which will allow allocating resources and redundancy proportionally: operating rooms and ICU first, administrative rooms last.

Main benefit

This evaluation ensures that the designed system meets the real requirements, avoiding unnecessary cost overruns and risks.

Hospital electrical design is regulated by local and international standards, which ensure that installations are safe and functional. Ignoring these regulations can bring legal and safety risks.

Most relevant standards

• NOM-001-SEDE-2012, Article 517: establishes the criteria for electrical installation in healthcare establishments, including insulation, grounding and load distribution.
• IEEE STD 602: guide of recommended practices for hospital electrical systems, focused on safety and continuity of supply.
• NFPA 99 (United States): standards on electrical systems in health care, including design, installation, maintenance and periodic testing.

Best practices

• Check for periodic updates of national and international standards.
• Implement an electrical system that meets safety and energy efficiency standards.
• Document all installations, adjustments and tests for future audits.

The Essential Electrical System (EES) is the heart of the hospital supply. Its main function is to guarantee the continuity of the electrical supply in critical areas, even in the event of failures in the main network.

ESS components

1. Redundant power sources

• Diesel or gas backup generators.
• UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) systems to support sensitive equipment.

2. Segmented distribution

• Separate critical and non-critical circuits to prevent a failure from affecting the entire facility.
• Separate electrical panels for operating rooms, ICU and laboratories.

3. Monitoring and alarm systems

• Detect faults, leakage currents and overloads, sending alerts to technical staff.

4. Regular maintenance

• Preventive revisions of generators, UPS, cables and transformers.

Insulation and grounding are essential measures to protect both people and equipment. Electrical current that is not properly channeled can cause electrocution, medical equipment failure or fire.

Best practices

• Conductor insulation: all live conductors should be properly insulated, especially near wet areas or operating rooms.
• Effective grounding: shunt leakage currents to ground to minimize risk of shock.
• Equipotentiality: all metallic parts must be at the same potential, avoiding dangerous voltage differences.

Recommended technologies

Insulation monitoring systems (IT insulation monitor) to alert on faults before they become incidents.

Some areas of the hospital require special electrical treatments, due to the sensitivity of the equipment and the importance of its operation.

Examples of critical areas

1. Operating rooms

• Uninterruptible power supply through UPS and generators.
• Redundant distribution of circuits for lighting, ventilation and surgical equipment.

2. Intensive Care Units (ICU)

• Constant power supply monitoring.
• Alarm systems and power redundancy.

3. Laboratories and imaging rooms

• Protection against voltage peaks.
• Stable and continuous power supply for advanced diagnostic equipment.

Benefit

Minimize the risk of failure during critical procedures, protecting lives and equipment.

Technology can improve the efficiency and safety of the hospital electrical system.

Recommended technologies

• Remote monitoring: IoT systems that allow real-time monitoring of the status of panels, UPS and generators.
• Intelligent automation: automatic load control, circuit prioritization and alarm management.
• Renewable energies: solar panels and auxiliary batteries to reduce grid consumption and improve resilience.
• Energy management software: consumption analysis, failure prediction and preventive maintenance.

Design does not end with installation; maintenance is key to ensure long-term safety and efficiency.

Best practices

• Periodic inspections: review of cables, boards and UPS to prevent failures.
• Technology upgrade: incorporate new equipment that meets newer standards or is more efficient.
• Staff training: train engineers and technicians to handle complex electrical systems.
• Recording and tracking: documenting failures, maintenance and upgrades for audits and continuous improvement.

Hospital electrical design is a complex process that requires planning, technical knowledge, regulatory compliance and ongoing maintenance. Following the best practices described above:

• Patient and staff safety is ensured.
• Protects the integrity of medical equipment.
• Ensures continuity of care in critical areas.
• Optimizes energy consumption and hospital efficiency.

Implementing these strategies allows hospitals to operate in a safe, reliable and sustainable manner, reducing risks and improving the quality of medical care.