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Photo: Courtesy of OSHPD
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OSHPD Fire and Life Safety Training Academy staff inspecting a hospital construction. |
As the Chief Fire and Life Safety Officer of the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) in California,
Gary Dunger is responsible for making sure that fire and life safety codes are enforced in all healthcare facility projects in the State of California.
We talked to Gary about his love for his profession, important code issues, and the future of fire and life safety in healthcare facilities. We learned a lot from him during this interview and hope you will too.
And now, here is Gary Dunger...
“...RIDING ON THE BACK OF A FIRE ENGINE. I FELL IN LOVE WITH IT.
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You’re the Chief Fire and Life Safety Officer of OSHPD. How did your journey begin?
I had always been interested in law enforcement, and at one point had enlisted to become a military police officer. But before beginning active duty, I was hired by a small fire department, which changed everything because I realized that fire service was in fact my true calling. I was a firefighter pulling fire hose and riding on the back of a fire engine. I fell in love with it. That was 32 years ago.
Any big fires you experienced?
Of course, as a firefighter in California, I’ve been on a few campaign fires that lasted three months, working on the fire lines in the Sequoia National Forest.
What about the rest of your journey?
After working as a firefighter for more than a decade, the law enforcement desire within me tugged me toward code enforcement and I was appointed as a Deputy State Fire Marshal for the State of California. Six years after that, I became the Fire Marshal at UCLA and 10 years later, I came to OSHPD as the Chief Fire and Life Safety Officer.
What are the benefits of having fire fighting experience as a fire and life safety officer?
I think it gives you a critical and unique understanding of fire behavior and characteristics that you don’t get in school or a laboratory setting.
How did you end up specializing in healthcare facilities?
During the time I was a Deputy State Fire Marshal, OSHPD contracted with the Office of the State Fire Marshal to perform plan review and enforce fire and life safety regulations in healthcare facilities construction. That was when I began enforcing codes in healthcare facilities. Also, during my time at UCLA, I was responsible for code enforcement in the medical facilities owned by the University of California.
What does OSHPD do?
OSHPD is essentially the state building department for all alterations, renovations and new construction of healthcare facilities in California. We’re responsible for code enforcement; performing plan reviews and field inspections of construction projects for hospitals, skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities. We do pre-design consultation and preliminary plan review when requested, perform a thorough review of all plans and specifications for construction projects and issue the building permit for construction. OSHPD also develops the regulations relating to healthcare construction that are presented to the CA Building Standards Commission.
What are the minimum qualifications for a fire and life safety officer at OSHPD?
A four-year degree from a fire protection, architecture or engineering program, and additional four years of full-time experience performing plan review or construction observation of healthcare facilities in California.
You have a unique Fire and Life Safety Training Academy at OSHPD. Why do you need this academy?
Since the education and experience qualifications are so specific, and since OSHPD is the only agency in California authorized to regulate construction in healthcare facilities, almost all of the people in California that met the minimum qualifications to become a fire and life safety officer have been hired--we had a difficult time finding candidates that met the minimum qualifications.
Recognizing this dilemma, the California Legislature enacted a new law authorizing OSHPD to create the Fire and Life Safety Training Academy in order to hire and train fire and life safety officers. The Academy is an intensive two-year on-the-job training program that teaches all aspects of the duties of a OSHPD fire and life safety officer, which ultimately results in the candidate being trained to meet the minimum qualifications to perform plan review and field inspections in complex hospital and healthcare construction projects.
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Photo: Courtesy of OSHPD
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Gary Dunger (third from the left) together with the staff of OSHPD Fire and Life Safety Training Academy. |
“...ENDS UP COSTING MORE TO UNDO AND FIX IT.
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What would you say is the most critical fire and life safety violation that you see during plan review or field inspection of healthcare facility projects?
I don’t think I can single out the most critical violation. However, an important violation that I consistently see is related to a regulation in California that prohibits construction (in health care facilities) that is not approved by OSHPD. This means that if a contractor comes across a situation during construction that the plans didn’t adequately address, they can’t arbitrarily come up with a solution and build it. They are required to delay the work until such time that the architect of record can direct the contractor on how to proceed; any changes to the approved plans are required to be submitted to our office or to our field staff, who regularly visit the project, to obtain approval before the contractor can proceed with the construction.
When a contractor elects not to follow the approved plans, the inspector is required to advise the contractor in writing of the violation. Often times this requires rework, or at a minimum a change to the approved plans, which results in delays. So even when the contractor tries to do something like this in good faith to save time or money, it ends up costing more to undo and fix it.
Do you see changes in the approach to fire and life safety in healthcare facilities?
I’m seeing that the codes are relying more and more on sprinkler protection in healthcare facilities. While sizes of the buildings are getting bigger, redundant fire protection features, like the fire-resistance rating of corridors, are permitted to be significantly reduced if the building is sprinklered. There are dozens of examples that I’m aware of where if the building is sprinklered, a reduction in redundant fire protection is permitted.
This translates to an ever-increasing reliance on the sprinkler system. Therefore, we need to ensure that the sprinkler system is designed and installed in strict accordance with the code and no short cuts have been taken. In addition to fire perils, in California we have earthquakes which can impair the ability of the sprinkler system to function properly. Water supplies are sometimes impacted by earthquakes so we need to be cognizant of this, as well as with the anchorage bracing of sprinkler systems. While sprinklers have an excellent track record of saving lives and property, buildings that rely on sprinklers to be operational after an earthquake--like hospitals--cannot afford to have the fire protection systems impaired. However, when they invariably are, redundant fire protection becomes a critical consideration.
Will there be any significant code changes in the new 2010 California Building Code (Title 24) related to fire and life safety in healthcare facilities?
OSHPD was very involved in a long code development process when we switched from the Uniform Building Code to the International Building Code in the 2007 CBC cycle. As with any code development process, amending one part of the model code resulted in omitting another part or creating conflicts somewhere else. To answer your question, most of the changes in the 2010 CBC--related to fire and life safety in healthcare facilities--are to fix things that we know are currently broken in the 2007 CBC. There aren’t any significant new provisions or changes that I can think of in the 2010 CBC.
Do people in your office use electronic code access?
That’s more of a personal preference. Some prefer books, some prefer electronic and some prefer having a combination of both. The book is useful to make notes in the margin; that is if you have your own book. God forbid if you have to use someone else’s book to find something because you never can.
With electronic codes, a lot of them are searchable, and have the ability to cut and paste information into your reports or reviews. Because I travel often, I personally prefer electronic codes. Since I can’t bring volumes of code books with me wherever I go, I can’t even use my books very much at all. I think electronic codes are in our near future and the direction we’re headed.