2.2.1 Principles for Constructing a Clean Operating Department

These principles apply to:

(1) New construction projects.

(2) Renovation projects.

(3) Expansion projects.

(4) Clean operating rooms and auxiliary rooms built within a non-clean operating department (area).

(5) Clean operating rooms and their auxiliary rooms in decentralized clean operating departments (areas).

(6) One to several clean operating rooms of an experimental nature and their auxiliary rooms.

(7) Relevant parts of conventional operating departments (rooms) that adopt ventilation and air conditioning.

In short, a clean operating department can be built as a self-contained functional area centered on all operating rooms and including the necessary auxiliary rooms, or as an independent functional area centered on some clean operating rooms and including the necessary auxiliary rooms, coexisting with conventional operating departments (rooms).

2.2.2 Protecting the Critical Area

Unlike a general production workshop, the "operation point" in an operating room is concentrated on the operating table in the middle, which is precisely the critical area of the operating room.

China's Construction Standard for Hospital Clean Operating Departments divided, for the first time, the operating room into the operating zone and the surrounding zone.

The operating zone includes the operating table and its extended area.

Since surgical personnel are mainly concentrated on both sides of the operating table, the extensions on both sides are the main objects of consideration.

Class Ⅰ operating rooms have the most stringent requirements: the unidirectional airflow must envelop beyond the surgical personnel to ensure that all the particles they emit can be immediately carried away by the unidirectional airflow; hence the extension is 0.9m.

Class Ⅱ operating rooms are standard clean operating rooms, requiring the surgical personnel to be within the main flow zone, so only a 0.6m extension is needed.

Class Ⅲ operating rooms are general clean operating rooms, requiring the surgical personnel to be basically within the main flow zone, so only a 0.4m extension is needed.

The two ends of the operating table only need the basic extension amount, i.e., 0.4m.

The operating table together with its extended area, i.e., the operating zone, is the critical area that must be protected. To save investment, the critical area should not be too large.

The surrounding zone outside the operating zone obviously does not require airflow control as strict as that for the operating zone.

Therefore, concepts commonly used in industrial cleanrooms, such as "uniformly arranged supply air outlets" and "room average concentration," are not applicable to clean operating departments.

2.2.3 Building Decoration Issues

For clean operating rooms with air conditioning systems, 85%～90% of dust and bacteria come from outdoor air; if the air, this major environment, is not handled properly, the key point has not been grasped. Of the remaining share of about 15%, that from people accounts for 80%～90%, while that from the building envelope accounts for only 10%～20% of the latter. Therefore, what the envelope structure mainly needs to satisfy is that it does not accumulate dust or bacteria, is easy to clean and disinfect, and meets functional needs; it is not about how high-end, complex, or luxurious it is.

2.2.4 Issues in the Selection of Materials and Equipment

In actual projects, not only are many of the selected materials non-standard and unqualified, but even the air conditioners are assembled on site by the construction contractor from components purchased from various sources, so performance testing is of course out of the question. In order to put an end to the practice of even large electromechanical equipment being assembled on site without In the practice of selecting products from proper manufacturers, it must be emphasized that the complete units (such as air conditioners) used in the clean operating department must be produced by specialized manufacturers and must have a certificate of conformity, performance test results, and appraisal conclusions.