Facilities & Safety Glossary

Establish lawful use and occupancy

Zoning controls land use under local law. A certificate of occupancy is a local approval associated with a building or space's permitted occupancy and use. An occupancy load is the maximum number of people permitted under the applicable code calculation.

The SBA licenses and permits guide explains that requirements vary by activity, location, and government rules. It is general orientation. Obtain the actual zoning, building, fire, business, healthcare, childcare, school, or other determinations triggered by the service model.

Life safety code commonly refers to an adopted fire and life-safety framework. The governing edition, amendments, occupancy classification, enforcement authority, and site conditions determine what applies. Record approval documents and inspection findings instead of citing a code name alone.

Design for access from arrival through service

An accessible route is a continuous, unobstructed path that meets applicable accessibility requirements. It extends beyond a ramp. Parking, entry, doors, circulation, toilets, service rooms, exits, counters, signage, communication, policies, and online scheduling may all matter.

The Americans with Disabilities Act covers several titles and distinct duties. DOJ's Title III overview addresses covered public accommodations, reasonable modifications, effective communication, service animals, and physical access, subject to legal standards and defenses.

Treat an access request as implementation work with a named owner. Clinical competence and accessible delivery are separate questions. Never use language, disability, AAC, mobility, or sensory needs as shorthand for poor fit.

Prepare for emergencies

An emergency action plan documents employee actions during specified workplace emergencies. OSHA's emergency-preparedness page explains when another OSHA standard triggers 29 CFR 1910.38 and recommends planning broadly. Federal and approved state-plan rules can differ.

Emergency preparedness is the larger system for prevention, response, continuity, communication, and recovery. Map fire, weather, utility, violence, medical, missing-person, technology, transportation, and community hazards as relevant. Assign activation, stop, evacuation, shelter, reunification, emergency-call, family-communication, and recovery authority.

Practice through tabletop exercises and safe drills. Do not simulate clinical crises, restraint, seclusion, or dangerous exposure to test readiness.

Build the emergency contact tree outside the system whose outage might activate it, while protecting access and keeping versions current. For each scenario, identify who calls emergency services, who supports communication and mobility, who takes the current roster, who accounts for every person, and who authorizes reentry. Record the detection event, activation time, required communications, unresolved people or records, and recovery acceptance. Platform restoration or an all-clear announcement is one milestone; controlled recovery also requires reconciled people, records, safety issues, and follow-up.

Control workplace exposure

The bloodborne pathogens standard is OSHA's occupational-exposure rule at 29 CFR 1910.1030. When workers have reasonably anticipated exposure, an exposure control plan organizes exposure determination, controls, protective equipment, vaccination, post-exposure evaluation, training, records, and review.

Personal protective equipment is equipment selected for a defined hazard and task. Availability alone does not prove correct selection, fit, use, training, cleaning, or disposal.

Hazard communication covers workplace information about hazardous chemicals. OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard includes labels, employee information and training, and a written program where applicable. A safety data sheet supplies standardized hazard and handling information for a chemical product. Keep the current sheet accessible to workers and connect it to the actual inventory.

Prevent infection through a system

Infection prevention coordinates policies and practices that reduce transmission risk. Environmental cleaning addresses cleaning and disinfection of surfaces and spaces using products, contact times, equipment, and frequencies suited to the setting and hazard.

CDC's core infection-control practices are healthcare guidance. An ABA owner should adapt applicable public-health, licensing, product-label, workplace, and clinical requirements to the actual setting. Record illness routes, hand hygiene, cleaning responsibilities, ventilation concerns, exposure response, and communication.

Learn from incidents and capacity data

An incident report records a defined event, immediate response, people notified, evidence, follow-up, and corrective action. It should preserve facts and authorship without replacing clinical documentation, mandated reporting, OSHA records, insurance notice, breach analysis, or another required report.

Facility utilization compares use with defined available capacity. State the room or site, service, period, available hours, used hours, safety limits, closures, exclusions, and access constraints. High utilization can signal demand, while it can also reduce transition time, cleaning time, privacy, or emergency margin.

A site-readiness example

A fictional center has 14 monthly safety controls due across access, emergency contacts, chemical inventory, cleaning, equipment, and inspections. Twelve are complete by the cutoff, or 12/14, 85.7%. Ten pass the verification test, or 10/12, 83.3%.

The two overdue controls and two failed tests stay visible with owners and stop conditions. The practice does not average them away. Any control required for safe occupancy or a scheduled service blocks that use until resolved.

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