Code of Massachusetts Regulations
239 CMR - BOARD OF REGISTRATION IN EMBALMING AND FUNERAL DIRECTING
Title 239 CMR 3.00 - Registration Requirements; Standards of Business and Professional Practice
Section 3.07 - Preparation Room

(1) Every Licensed Funeral Establishment shall have at least one preparation room for the preparation for burial or other disposition of all dead human bodies. Said preparation room shall be at least 12' x 14' in size for any new construction after January 1, 2008. Preparation rooms shall be locked at all times.

(2) No person shall be allowed in the preparation room while a dead human body is being prepared for burial or other final disposition except persons duly registered or licensed by the Board pursuant to M.G.L. c. 112, §§ 82 through 87, public officials engaged in the discharge of their official duties, students who are duly enrolled in a recognized mortuary school, and members of the decedent's immediate family or persons authorized by them in writing. The provisions of 239 CMR 3.07(2) shall be printed on a placard and conspicuously displayed or posted on the exterior of each door to each preparation room in the Licensed Funeral Establishment. Failure to post said placards shall constitute grounds for disciplinary action by the Board.

(3) Each preparation room in a Licensed Funeral Establishment shall be equipped with a tile or cement floor. Rubber tile, rubber matting or linoleum may be used provided that it is not less than 3/16" thick, and that, if it is used as a floor covering, it is laid over a floor constructed of cement or other waterproof substance. Wooden floors overlaid with metal or other waterproof materials may be accepted in lieu of cement floors.

(4) Each preparation room shall also contain the following: one standard-type sanitary operating table; one flush-rim sink, one floor drain; one reduced pressure or air gap separation backflow prevention device located at the water meter or property line; one sanitary waste receptacle which is opened by a foot pedal; and a standard-type instrument sterilizer.

(5) Every preparation room shall comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and ordinances regarding ventilation and, in the absence of such laws, shall be ventilated so as to ensure that no deleterious odors are allowed to remain therein and that the odors there from are not permitted to enter into any other part of the Licensed Funeral Establishment or any part of any adjoining premises.

(6) An embalmer's kit shall contain, at a minimum, all items which are reasonably necessary for proper embalming and/or preparation of a dead human body for burial, cremation or other final disposition in light of currently accepted standards of professional practice.

(7) All equipment which is used to aspirate or remove blood or other potentially infectious materials, as defined in 239 CMR 3.12, or which comes into contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials, shall be maintained and used in a manner which prevents conversion of blood or other potentially infectious materials to aerosol or airborne particles.