When it comes to protecting patient safety during construction, Purdue University Healthcare Construction Management students now have a leg up on their peers. This week, juniors and seniors from Purdue’s program visited the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters to learn more about Infection Control Risk Assesment, or ICRA training, and hospital construction.

Students met with ICRA leads for an open discussion about best practices. They learned about Infection Control barriers, traffic flow during construction, equipment, advice on working with subcontractors, flooring (INSTALL), the importance of the anteroom, airflow and what to look for in an internship.

“It is truly an honor partnering with the top healthcare engineering students in the country. Purdue’s Construction Management program is one of the most recognized in the nation.  Our goal in the future is to change the culture in the way we perform healthcare construction, and these students are our future.  Patient safety is everyone’s responsibility, and these students added an important tool to their toolboxes by working towards eliminating secondary infections caused from construction,” said IKORCC Business Representative and ICRA lead Adam Fedak.

Students from Healthcare Construction Management in the School of Construction Management at Purdue University also took and passed an IKORCC 8-hour ICRA awareness class. Students toured a mock hospital in the Carpenter’s Training Center where they saw the right way to do hospital construction and the wrong way. It’s a fun hands-on experience the students enjoyed.

Finally, Purdue students made a job site visit to Franciscan Hospital where Tonn & Blank gave them a tour of a current Cath Lab project.

“Our ICRA training brings more value to the Purdue students when they go get their first job on healthcare construction projects,” said Matt McGriff IKORCC Representative and ICRA lead.

IKORCC’s Construction ICRA Best Practices is an innovative program that provides patient-focused training for Carpenters and other trades working in hospitals, medical facilities or other occupied spaces. This set of best practices helps prevent the spread of disease and infection during construction at healthcare facilities. ICRA instructors also offer training opportunities to healthcare facility staff. Learn more here.