Failure to Maintain Essential Heating Equipment After Power Outage
Penalty
Summary
Failure to maintain essential heating equipment occurred after a facility-wide power outage that affected all 102 residents. The Maintenance Director reported that power was lost for approximately 45 minutes on a Saturday and was restored before he arrived, and he did not identify any heating issues at that time. The following day, the Administrator notified him that the heat was not working, and he then realized the facility’s boiler system required a manual reset after the outage, which he had been unaware of. An Assistant Maintenance staff member later confirmed that the Maintenance Director did not reset all boilers and that he himself had to manually reset one boiler supplying heat to the Administrator’s office. The Administrator acknowledged that the Maintenance Director, who had started working at the facility the previous month, could not be trained on all aspects of the building and stated that he should have contacted the regional maintenance team after the power outage to determine any additional required tasks. A heating company technician visited the facility on Sunday due to lack of heat and determined that a new motor and spring coupler were needed for the pump, documenting that the pump motor was a pivotal component for the heat pumps to work and needed immediate replacement. The technician recorded that the customer chose to wait until the next day during normal business hours, stating that the building temperature had risen and they preferred to delay the work. On Monday, the Maintenance Director reported that staff were complaining of being cold, and the regional maintenance team identified that the water pump was failing. A heating company technician arrived that afternoon with a replacement pump motor, confirmed the existing motor was bad, and ultimately installed a new motor and spring coupler later that evening after obtaining a functional replacement. The technician documented remaining on-site until staff were comfortable that room temperatures were rising, indicating that essential heating equipment had not been maintained in safe operating condition for a period following the outage.
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