{"id":135579,"date":"2023-12-12T13:17:12","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T13:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=135579"},"modified":"2023-12-12T13:17:12","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T13:17:12","slug":"risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/","title":{"rendered":"Unveiling the risks of LST radiators in healthcare"},"content":{"rendered":"

Delve into the risks of LST radiators in healthcare, examining how safety casings with fine mesh may not guarantee a safe environment. Discrete Heat<\/a> investigates the reasons behind the continued use of these potentially hazardous heating solutions<\/h2>\n

Care homes and dementia wards are peppered with hidden fall hazards.<\/p>\n

Our work in the healthcare sector and dementia care has made me very attuned to the constant drip drip drip of incidents involving radiators, and very often those concealed in \u2018safety casings\u2019.<\/p>\n

Despite several reports detailing the hygienic issues created by radiators and their casings, the low surface temperature (LST) requirements being obviated by the fine mesh on anti-ligature covers and covering a hard steel radiator with sharp edges with a hard steel cover and hard steel faces doesn\u2019t bode well for a safe landing in the event of a trip or a fall.<\/p>\n

Even so, they still seem to be the go-to heating solution in care homes and healthcare.<\/p>\n

Why are LST radiators still so widely specified and installed?<\/h3>\n

Dr Faris and his infection control team at Trafford General and MRI combatted difficile infection and MRSA, being the first NHS facility in the country that lasted 1,000 days without a reported infection.<\/p>\n

When admitting defeat and faced with \u2018LST\u2019 radiators, removing the covers to clean was an impractical nonstarter in a busy ward or hospital corridor, and even then, cleaning between the panels was an impossibility, and the harmful spores that spread airborne illnesses, including COVID, could hide with impunity.<\/p>\n

Heavy covers are often a 2-man lift; cleaning\u00a0in a busy ward or corridor is impractical, and even then, access between skins is not possible.<\/p>\n

Hospital Guidelines require radiators in areas of patient care to be cleaned \u2018once a week\u2019. Dr Faris knew that some radiators hadn\u2019t been cleaned inside for 10 years.<\/p>\n

In order to comply with the AHCP (Association of Healthcare Cleaning Professionals) Guidelines that stipulate that radiators and covers should be cleaned inside and out every week, it would cost the NHS \u00a31bn a year. Therefore, it didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

Anti-ligature radiators often are not LST<\/h3>\n

Secure mental health units require \u2018anti-ligature\u2019 fixtures and fittings to prevent individuals who may self-harm from finding a ligature point to create a noose or \u2018crocodile roll\u2019 point with which to asphyxiate themselves.<\/p>\n

As a result, Low Surface Temperature (LST) radiators, to comply with anti-ligature requirements, installed tiny mesh grilles, through which a cord cannot be threaded. Problem solved? Hardly!<\/p>\n

The manufacturer of such anti ligature covers themselves must admit in their literature that they cannot guarantee LST compliance due to the poor airflow through the covers, leading to the surface temperature often approaching that of the radiator inside.<\/p>\n

The EasyClean radiant skirting heating system<\/h3>\n

Rising energy costs and the drive to push net zero are now throwing up additional challenges that have Estate Managers throwing their hands up in despair.<\/p>\n

To utilise renewables such as Heat Pumps<\/a> – radiators need to get a whole lot bigger, and whilst they become naturally LST as a result, they still need a safety casing as they have hard edges, exposed pipework, and potential ligature points.<\/p>\n

Our work with the NHS Infection Control Team at Trafford General led to the development of the \u2018EasyClean\u2019<\/a> a healthcare version of the ThermaSkirt heating system.<\/p>\n

Naturally, a safe surface temperature (and thus immediately \u2018Heat Pump ready\u2019), it has no exposed pipes, no ligature points, can withstand violent and challenging behavior, and is safe in the event of a trip and a fall.<\/p>\n

The EasyClean radiant skirting heating system was developed with the NHS.<\/p>\n

For many installations,<\/a> the EasyClean is more energy-efficient and cost-saving than a large radiator and a purpose-built cover.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Delve into the risks of LST radiators in healthcare, examining how safety casings with fine mesh may not guarantee a safe environment. Discrete Heat investigates the reasons behind the continued use of these potentially hazardous heating solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[307],"tags":[464,172727,714],"stakeholder_rel_tag":[172814],"contributor_rel_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-135579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-energy-news","7":"tag-contributor-profile","8":"tag-featured","9":"tag-heating","10":"stakeholder_rel_tag-discrete-heat"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUnveiling the risks of LST radiators in healthcare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Delve into the risks of LST radiators in healthcare, examining how safety casings with fine mesh may not guarantee a safe environment\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unveiling the risks of LST radiators in healthcare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Delve into the risks of LST radiators in healthcare, examining how safety casings with fine mesh may not guarantee a safe environment. Discrete Heat investigates the reasons behind the continued use of these potentially hazardous heating solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Planning, Building & Construction Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-12T13:17:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/iStock-1353808129-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lydia Bamford\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Delve into the risks of LST radiators in healthcare, examining how safety casings with fine mesh may not guarantee a safe environment. Discrete Heat investigates the reasons behind the continued use of these potentially hazardous heating solutions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/iStock-1353808129-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@PBC_Today\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@PBC_Today\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lydia Bamford\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/3caffe2c18b28565792e144cbf7029c4\"},\"headline\":\"Unveiling the risks of LST radiators in healthcare\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-12T13:17:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/\"},\"wordCount\":621,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Contributor Profile\",\"Featured\",\"Heating Systems\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Energy News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2023\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/\",\"name\":\"Unveiling the risks of LST radiators in healthcare\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-12T13:17:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"Delve into the risks of LST radiators in healthcare, examining how safety casings with fine mesh may not guarantee a safe environment\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Unveiling the risks of LST radiators in healthcare\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Planning, Building & Construction Today\",\"description\":\"The Latest Planning, Building & Construction News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Planning, Building & Construction Today\",\"alternateName\":\"PBC Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"Planning, Building & Construction Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/PBC_Today\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/3caffe2c18b28565792e144cbf7029c4\",\"name\":\"Lydia Bamford\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b370e924c798a188a00c837c8c86078c8cca26e1199c42f81aa49e696f108d42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b370e924c798a188a00c837c8c86078c8cca26e1199c42f81aa49e696f108d42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lydia Bamford\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/author\/lydiabamford\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Unveiling the risks of LST radiators in healthcare","description":"Delve into the risks of LST radiators in healthcare, examining how safety casings with fine mesh may not guarantee a safe environment","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Unveiling the risks of LST radiators in healthcare","og_description":"Delve into the risks of LST radiators in healthcare, examining how safety casings with fine mesh may not guarantee a safe environment. Discrete Heat investigates the reasons behind the continued use of these potentially hazardous heating solutions","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/","og_site_name":"Planning, Building & Construction Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/","article_published_time":"2023-12-12T13:17:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1333,"url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/iStock-1353808129-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lydia Bamford","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_description":"Delve into the risks of LST radiators in healthcare, examining how safety casings with fine mesh may not guarantee a safe environment. Discrete Heat investigates the reasons behind the continued use of these potentially hazardous heating solutions.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/iStock-1353808129-scaled.jpg","twitter_creator":"@PBC_Today","twitter_site":"@PBC_Today","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/"},"author":{"name":"Lydia Bamford","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/3caffe2c18b28565792e144cbf7029c4"},"headline":"Unveiling the risks of LST radiators in healthcare","datePublished":"2023-12-12T13:17:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/"},"wordCount":621,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["Contributor Profile","Featured","Heating Systems"],"articleSection":["Energy News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2023","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/","name":"Unveiling the risks of LST radiators in healthcare","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-12-12T13:17:12+00:00","description":"Delve into the risks of LST radiators in healthcare, examining how safety casings with fine mesh may not guarantee a safe environment","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/risks-of-lst-radiators-healthcare\/135579\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Unveiling the risks of LST radiators in healthcare"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/","name":"Planning, Building & Construction Today","description":"The Latest Planning, Building & Construction News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization","name":"Planning, Building & Construction Today","alternateName":"PBC Today","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"Planning, Building & Construction Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/","https:\/\/x.com\/PBC_Today"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/3caffe2c18b28565792e144cbf7029c4","name":"Lydia Bamford","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b370e924c798a188a00c837c8c86078c8cca26e1199c42f81aa49e696f108d42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b370e924c798a188a00c837c8c86078c8cca26e1199c42f81aa49e696f108d42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lydia Bamford"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk"],"url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/author\/lydiabamford\/"}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-23 12:29:29","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135579\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135579"},{"taxonomy":"stakeholder_rel_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stakeholder_rel_tag?post=135579"},{"taxonomy":"contributor_rel_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor_rel_tag?post=135579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}