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Safety Counts with Medical Grade Power Strips
Published October 2022
Medical grade power strips are designed explicitly for use in health care facilities for all types of Patient Care Areas. The 2020 edition of NEC Article 517 defines patient care areas as any room of a health care facility wherein patients are intended to be examined or treated. This is further detailed into these categories: Basic Care Spaces (e.g. exam or treatment rooms in clinics, dental offices, nursing homes, etc.); General Care Spaces (e.g. patient bedrooms, dialysis rooms, procedural rooms, etc.); and Critical Care Spaces (e.g. intensive care rooms, operating rooms, delivery rooms, etc.).
For a power strip to qualify as “medical grade” it must have the following features: 1) be used with medical equipment inside patient care areas; 2) feature hospital grade plugs and receptacles with covers that can be opened with a specific tool; 3) have an enclosure leakage current that does not exceed 0.1 mA in normal condition; 4) be permanently mounted to moveable equipment; 5) cannot have a manual ON/OFF switch; and 6) conforms to safety standard UL 60601-1 or UL 1363A.
The NFPA 99 is the national code that establishes criteria for health care systems to minimize hazards such as fire or explosions. The latest NFPA 99 addresses control of the maximum acceptable load level in medical grade power strips. This newly adopted electrical safety requirement strictly mandates that the sum of the ampacity of all appliances connected to power outlets does not exceed 75 percent of the ampacity capacity of the flexible cord supplying the outlets.
Safe, Safer, Safest with Leviton’s Line of Medical Grade Power Strips |
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Leviton's entire offering of medical grade power strips are designed for maximum safety specific to the health care spaces listed above. All of Leviton’s medical grade power strips are built to conform to UL 1363A, UL 60601-1, UL 60950-1. These devices also satisfy electrical safety requirements specified in NFPA 99: Health Care Facilities Code allowing facility managers to ensure code compliance. Those with surge protection capabilities conform to UL 1449.
All outlets and plugs are hospital grade, ensuring dependable performance and all are available in 15A or 20A. Locking safety covers for the outlets are tamper-resistant and splash-resistant to protect against incidental contact with unused outlets, as well as harsh washdowns. |
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Leviton has three distinctive types of medical grade power strips with selection based on size of health care facility, the type of facility and meet precise requirements within. These include:
- Safe Medical Grade Power Strips – These basic, efficient, hospital-grade outlets ensure dependable 24/7 performance. Built with heavy-duty steel construction these power strips withstand demanding environments and are equipped with easy-to-mount mounting holes.
- Safer Medical Grade Power Strip with Surge Protection – These provide the same reliable features as the medical grade power strips, but with the added feature of surge protection to provide ultimate protection against damaging voltage surges. These are UL 1449 compliant and have indicators for both power and protection. Surge protection power strips are recommended for areas that are prone to EMI interferences such as lightning strikes, power outages or power surges, making them safer to patients and hospital staff.
- Newest and Safest Medical Grade Power Strips with Load Monitoring Inform™ Technology With or Without Surge Protection – The newest additions to Leviton’s top-of-the-line medical grade power strips provide the safest protection in any health care environment. These are equipped with LED indicators for power, performance and load. The Inform technology monitors the load of connected devices, eliminating the need for manual calculations. When the NFPA 99 limit (75%) has been exceeded, a line-of-sight LED indication will activate to notify the appropriate personnel. The built-in overload protection shuts off the strip in case of excess power draw, and can be returned to service with the simple push of a button. Depending on the location of the facility, this new line of medical grade power strips are available with or without surge protection.
Count on Leviton to provide the utmost in safety devices for demanding medical and health care environments ensuring the highest security for all patients and health care professionals. |
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| Leviton Mfg. Company Inc. |
201 North Service Rd.
Melville, NY 11747
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