Installing a CAP: Save Time and Improve Patient Safety

When cabling in a cleanroom or healthcare facility, patient safety should be on the forefront of every electrical contractor and facility manager’s mind. In addition to keeping patients safe from the dust, dirt, and debris that is generated from accessing the ceiling, workers involved in cabling will also want their time to be spent efficiently.

Having the right tools can help you and your team meet the goals of cabling project efficiency and improved patient safety in hospitals and other clean air environments. The HEPACART® CAP, or cabling access point, is not only able to easily meet these goals, but it is also a great long-term investment.

What is a CAP?

The name “CAP” stands for cabling access point, which is a HEPACART® productivity and protection tool used to speed up cable installation and minimize patient and worker exposure to dangerous particles found in the ceiling. By pulling wires through the CAP system, wires and debris are kept separate and in the ceiling rather than falling into a healthcare facility, cleanroom, or other environment with a lift-grid tile system.

What does a CAP look like?

The HEPACART® CAP is the size of a standard lift-grid tile, or 2x2. The CAP can also fit a 2x4 tile with a CAP extension. The HEPACART® CAP also comes in metric sizes for overseas construction and cabling projects. There are several configurations designed for specific cable and wire pulling needs, which can be seen in the HEPACART® catalog.

At only 8 pounds, the CAP is extremely lightweight and is strong and durable for any type of ceiling access cabling projects. By order request, the CAP can have corner holes or “Hanger Holes” to be attached to the building structure if needed.

How does a CAP work?

The CAP feeds wire and cable through a minimized access point that is protected by horsehair bristles to keep dust, dirt, and debris from falling during cable access work. By having these bristles over the 2”x6” standard opening, the cable can be run throughout a healthcare facility without needing to open the ceiling for direct ceiling access.

On the side of the CAP that faces upwards into the ceiling, there are steel rollers attached to reduce friction on the cable and improve wire flow. These rollers can be adjusted or come in different sizes to accommodate small and large cable pulls.  

Saving Time and Money

When you use the HEPACART® CAP, you spend less time worrying. With traditional ceiling cabling without a CAP, cables can be easily nicked and scratched — which also wastes money.

The CAP’s horsehair bristles surround the limited access point to protect cables and wires so you don’t need to spend your time concerned about the state of your cables.  In addition, HEPACART® CAP users will spend less time trying to reduce the potential damage that can come from using a cable jacket.

The CAP helps users spend less time trying to protect the surrounding area from dust, dirt, and debris. Because the horsehair bristles catch these particles before they fall, the man hours spent trying to contain dust are cut dramatically.

The steel roller system installed on the CAP for improved wire flow will also ensure you spend less time wiring cables altogether. The improved flow makes cabling go much quicker.

The HEPACART® CAP pays for itself after just a few uses, and the aluminum construction makes it highly durable to be used for project after project. So not only are you saving time, but you save the money you would have had to spend on additional materials and protective equipment.

Improving Patient Safety

The main goal of everyone who works in a hospital or healthcare facility should be to protect the health and improve the safety of the patients within those environments. In order to accomplish this goal, you need to have the right tools to ensure that patients are not in danger from the dust and pathogens that are released during hospital construction and maintenance.

Using a CAP is a huge help in providing patients with security and safety. Because the ceiling access point is minimal — and that opening is protected with horsehair bristles — the amount of dust, debris, and dirt that has the potential to contaminate a clean air environment is limited.

Patients, especially in high-risk or isolation environments, are more susceptible to infection from the pathogens that can live in ceiling debris. With nearly 99,000 deaths from hospital acquired infections (HAIs) in the United States each year, the value that a system like the HEPACART® CAP brings to hospital construction and maintenance can’t be measured.

There are several goals that electrical contractors and facility managers need to meet while doing cabling work in hospital and healthcare facility ceilings. While these goals can change between projects, patient safety and efficiently using time and money are always at the top of the list. With the right tools, like the HEPACART® CAP, these goals can easily be achieved.

To learn more about the HEPACART® CAP, download our product catalog from the link below.