Procedure for Maintenance and Repair Personnel in Obstetrical Areas:
On those occasions when it is necessary for maintenance and repair personnel to enter obstetrical areas to effect repairs certain infection control procedures must be followed. For purposes of discussion the obstetrical areas can be divided into two categories of risk; the high risk area, which consists of the prepared or in use delivery room, and the low risk area which includes tall other areas. The following precautions are applicable when effecting repairs in the high risk area. If the maintenance or repair problems such that work can be delayed, work should be delayed until the space is no longer in use. If the work cannot be delayed the following:
1. For any repairs in OR rooms, workers must remove their Engineering and Facilities clothes and wear white attire provided by OR personnel.
2. If a case is in progress, do not touch or allow equipment or debris to touch the sterile field (table on which instruments and sterile sheets are located).
3. If a case in is progress, inform the nurse in charge of any equipment or utility that must be deactivated or turned off.
When repairs or maintenance must be accomplished in low risk areas, workers are required to put on cover gown (wrap-around) prior to entering the area. Workers will advise the nurse in charge of the nature of their business prior to entering the area and are prohibited from entering the rooms during these periods when the babies are with the mothers.
