Current through November 28, 2024
(a) An entity listed in
7
AAC 10.1000(b) must comply with the
applicable life and fire safety requirements of this section and any additional
or more stringent applicable standards established by a municipality to which
the state fire marshal has deferred building fire safety inspection and
enforcement activities under
13 AAC
50.075(c).
(b) An entity must meet the requirements of
(c) of this section if the entity provides
(1) 24-hour or nighttime care for six or more
adults or children; in this paragraph, "nighttime care" means care between the
hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.; or
(2) less than 24-hour care for six or more
children, including the caregiver's children who are under age 12 or of limited
mobility.
(c) An entity
described in (b) of this section must
(1) meet
the standards for life and safety specified in 13 AAC 50 and 13 AAC 55; the
entity shall keep any information required by those standards available for
department inspection;
(2) obtain
any applicable state or municipal building code approval; that approval must
also be obtained before making a modification to a licensed entity if the
modification is one that requires that approval; for purposes of this
paragraph, a state building code approval is an approval required under
13 AAC 50.027 and 13 AAC 55;
and
(3) obtain a fire safety
inspection report from each state or municipal authority responsible for those
inspections, and continue to obtain those reports every two years, or more
often if required by the authority; the entity is responsible for any fee
charged by the authority for each inspection.
(d) At the time of licensing, the department
will inspect an entity licensed to provide care for five or fewer adults or
children to determine if the entity meets the applicable requirements of this
section. Based on the inspection, or if the department determines that it is
necessary for purposes of public health, safety, or welfare, the department
will request an advisory inspection report from one or more state or municipal
building or fire safety authorities. The entity is responsible for any fee
charged by the authority for each inspection.
(e) An entity must have a disaster
preparedness and emergency evacuation plan that
(1) includes evacuation procedures that will
ensure the complete evacuation of
(A)
children in care, including children with limited mobility, within 150 seconds;
or
(B) adults in care, including
adults with limited mobility, as follows:
(i)
if the entity does not have an automatic sprinkler system, the plan must ensure
complete evacuation will be accomplished within three minutes;
(ii) if the entity has a central fire alarm
system and an automatic retardant sprinkler system, the plan must ensure
complete evacuation will be accomplished within 13 minutes;
(iii) if the entity has a central fire alarm
system and an automatic suppressant sprinkler system, the plan must ensure
evacuation will be accomplished as necessary under the circumstances;
(iv) if the entity has a central fire alarm
system, and has a safe location that is remote or separated from the effects of
any fire and to which the adults may be safely evacuated, the plan must ensure
evacuation will be accomplished as required by the state or municipal fire
safety authority responsible for inspecting the entity;
(2) describes in detail the
procedures that will be followed for the complete evacuation of the entity,
including specific procedures, as applicable, for
(A) children under 30 months of
age;
(B) adults or children with
limited mobility; and
(C) adults or
children who otherwise may need assistance in an emergency, including an adult
or child who is mentally, visually, or hearing impaired;
(3) includes procedures for other emergency
situations or natural disasters that may affect the entity, including, as
appropriate, tsunami, flooding, and earthquake emergencies;
(4) provides for drills to be conducted as
required by (f) of this section;
(5) requires
(A) training of all employees in implementing
the plan; and
(B) participation of
all employees who are on duty during the scheduled drill; and
(6) for an assisted living home,
provides that the procedures developed in the plan will be reviewed with each
adult in care or that adult's representative before the adult begins to receive
care.
(f) An entity
shall conduct emergency evacuation drills as required in this subsection.
Subject to (g)(6) and (7) of this section, a drill may be postponed or modified
during severe weather. The entity shall conduct a drill at least
(1) once each month if the entity is
(A) licensed to provide care for children
younger than age 12;
(B) a
residential child care facility; or
(2) once every three months if the entity is
(B) an assisted living home, for each shift
at the assisted living home; complete evacuation of the home must occur at
least once each year for each shift unless the entity conducts evacuations as
described under (e)(1)(B)(iii) or (iv) of this section and has an emergency
evacuation plan approved by the state fire marshal or a municipality to which
the fire marshal has deferred building fire safety inspection and enforcement
activities.
(g) An entity shall make and retain a record
of each required evacuation drill and make the record available to the
department upon request. The record must include
(1) the date and time of the drill;
(2) the name of each employee on duty at the
time of the drill;
(3) the name of
each adult or child in care who was present at the time of the drill but did
not participate in the drill, and the reason for nonparticipation;
(4) the amount of time required to complete
the drill;
(5) a critique of the
drill as described in (h) of this section;
(6) documentation of the reason for any
postponement under (f) of this section, and the rescheduled date to conduct the
postponed drill; and
(7)
documentation of the reason for any modification under (f) of this section, and
a description of the nature of the modification.
(h) The critique required by (g)(5) of this
section must include
(1) a review of actions
taken by each employee;
(2) a
review of responses by adults or children in care during drill;
(3) an evaluation of whether existing
policies were followed and, if not, an explanation of why a policy was not
followed;
(4) an evaluation of
whether the policies followed were effective and, if not, a description of how
any policy will be revised for future drills;
(5) for any critique that indicates a drill
was ineffective in any way, an identification of factors contributing to an
ineffective drill; and
(6) any
suggestions for improving future drills.
(i) If an emergency affects an entity, the
entity shall notify the department by telephone, facsimile, or electronic mail
no later than the following working day and shall, within five working days,
submit a detailed written report to the department that includes the following:
(1) the date and time of the
emergency;
(2) a description of the
nature of the emergency;
(3) a
description of how the evacuation was achieved, including the amount of time
necessary to achieve evacuation;
(4) a critique of the evacuation that
includes the information required under (h) of this section;
(5) if the entity is a residential facility,
and if the emergency rendered any part of the facility unsafe for occupancy, a
description of how the entity will protect residents until the facility is safe
for occupancy.
(j) In
addition to the first aid kit required under
7
AAC 10.1075, an entity shall maintain one disaster kit
that includes
(1) at least one flashlight and
batteries;
(2) at least one
battery-operated radio and batteries;
(4) nonperishable food; and
(k) An entity that uses oil, wood, natural
gas, or propane as a heating or cooking fuel shall ensure that an operating
carbon monoxide detector is installed within each sleeping area, or no more
than three feet from the entrance to that area, and is regularly inspected,
tested, and serviced. In addition, if the entity is in a multi-level facility,
at least one operating carbon monoxide detector must be installed on each
level.
(l) An entity licensed to
provide care for five or fewer adults or children shall ensure that
(1) the building occupied by the adults or
children in care has at least two means of emergency escape that are remote
from each other and that provide unobstructed access to the outside of the
building; at least one means of emergency escape must be an exterior door; if
one of the means of emergency escape is a window, the window must comply with
the requirements of (3) of this subsection; an entity that is located in a
single-family dwelling with only one exterior door may not provide care for
more than five children, including children who are relatives of the
administrator or foster parent unless the department approves an additional
means of egress;
(2) the building
occupied by the adults or children in care has at least one means of escape
from any basement directly to the outside at or near ground level, if adults or
children in care occupy the basement for any part of the day;
(3) unless prohibited by the state fire
marshal for a window 20 feet or more above ground level, each bedroom has at
least one fully-opening window that provides escape directly to the outside and
that meets the following requirements:
(A) the
finished sill height may not exceed
(i) 44
inches above the floor; the department will allow an entity to meet this
requirement through the provision of a permanently installed step, the top of
which is no more than 44 inches from the sill, if the step does not create a
tripping hazard, block wheelchair access in the bedroom, or block a heating
element; any request for a variance of the sill height requirement must be
accompanied by written approval from the state fire marshal; or
(ii) 48 inches above the floor for an
assisted living home licensed under 7 AAC 75 on or before June 23, 2006, if the
home does not already meet the standard in (i) of this subparagraph; the home
must meet the standard in (i) of this subparagraph if the bedroom is remodeled
or a new bedroom is constructed;
(B) the net clear openable area must be a
minimum of 5.7 square feet; for purposes of this subparagraph,
(i) the net clear openable height may not be
less than 24 inches; if the height is 24 inches, the width may not be less than
34.25 inches; and
(ii) the net
clear openable width may not be less than 20 inches; if the width is 20 inches,
the height may not be less than 41.25 inches;
(4) a window screen is not used if it
permanently prevents exit or if it cannot be easily removed for exit;
(5) the entity is free of any accumulation of
combustible waste material and other fire hazards in or around the
premises;
(6) at least one AC
primary powered smoke detection device with battery backup, or at least one
monitored battery powered smoke detection device, is located in each bedroom;
in addition, if the entity is in a multi-level facility, at least one smoke
detection device must be installed on each level; each device required under
this paragraph must be less than 10 years old, or newer if necessary to comply
with the manufacturer's recommended replacement date; in this paragraph, "AC"
means alternating current;
(7) at
least one fully charged 2A:10BC dry chemical fire extinguisher is strategically
located on each level of the facility, and is installed, inspected, tested, and
serviced according to the requirements of
13 AAC
50.025(47);
(8) any flammable or combustible liquid is
stored in a container with a tight-fitting lid specifically designed for
holding flammable or combustible liquids, and ensure that these liquids are
kept out of the reach of children, or adults with impaired judgment;
and
(9) each heating device meets
the applicable requirements of
7
AAC 10.1015.
Authority:AS
18.05.010
AS 18.05.040
AS 44.29.020
AS 47.32.010
AS 47.32.020
AS 47.32.030
AS 47.32.050
AS 47.32.060
AS 47.33.005
AS
47.33.010
