When working in a hospital, it’s so important to stay on top of storage. Storage of medical records, equipment, supplies, and medicine can be easy to overlook. Any hospital needs to ensure the storage of such documents and supplies for various reasons, including regulatory compliance and reducing the loss of valuable equipment and medical supplies. How, then, can a cam lock help you?
Among all the lock types used in hospitals, cam locks are among the most effective. These are easy to use, once installed, but cam locks come in various forms. To help you understand how to pick the right cam lock for your hospital storage, we reached out to the UK’s leading ironmongery experts at Locks & Hardware for some advice.
Where are these locks likely to provide the best results? How can you pick the correct cam lock? This guide should make what can be a pretty confusing process a whole lot simpler for you.
The Importance Of Securing Medical Cabinets
In any hospital environment, there are many potentially lucrative resources lying around. If stolen, they could fetch a good price on the black market. That includes medical supplies, equipment, and, of course, medicine. Even data records can be worth stealing to the right criminal.
That’s why securing your medical cabinets – ideally with cam locks – is such a good idea. Unsecured storage in a hospital brings many potential risks, including:
- Theft carried out by staff or by visitors to your hospital, leading to loss of equipment and medicine that is required to help treat your patients
- Misuse of equipment and medical supplies, as the lack of security means people without the correct credentials can get their hands on equipment and supplies
- Contamination of goods due to a lack of storage. This is especially true of medicine, where it must be kept in specific conditions, or the medicine can go off
These reasons alone should give you good reason to consider upgrading your hospital storage. Most hospitals have basic storage in place, while others invest in more durable solutions such as digital locks. For those looking for effective but affordable storage locks, cam locks are a great shout.
Choosing The Right Cam Lock For Healthcare Settings
Now, of course, it’s important to understand that cam locks are not one and the same. If you shop around for cam locks for hospitals and medical cabinets, you might find it confusing to select the right type. In our chat with Locks & Handles, we received some important insight and tips, which include:
Always Get The Size Right
Just about any cam lock will have a specific height that is compatible with your medical cabinets. Most of the time, you will need to measure the following areas of the cam lock:
- The length of the cam lock’s body, as well as the overall length
- The height of the cam lock, both overall height and body height
- The cam lock width
- The face diameter
All six measurements need to be accurate; otherwise, you will buy a cam lock that won’t fit your medical cabinet(s). At the very least, ensure the diameter and length match.
Ensure Compatible Materials
Another important issue is to ensure you invest in cam locks made from the right material. In a hospital setting, you need to ensure your cam locks can be sterilised.
Sterile surfaces are an essential part of cleaning and maintenance in a hospital, and that includes the cam lock. After all, people will be opening and closing these locks, so you cannot afford for them to be potentially contaminated or dirty. Your safest bet is likely to be medical-grade stainless steel, as this is easy to sterilise and to wipe down without leaving any potential contaminants lingering.
Quality Ensures Longevity
When shopping for a cam lock for medical cabinets, you can find many options, from cheap to expensive. The advice we received is pretty simple: don’t waste your money on cheap cam locks.
What you save by buying cheaper cam locks will come back to you down the line in the cost of replacing the cam lock before its time. A high-quality cam lock should be designed for constant use, as most medical cabinets are opened repeatedly every day.
As such, you need cam locks designed for long-term use in a high-traffic environment. Most of the time, that means paying a little more for a high-quality, sturdy cam lock made from sterilisable materials.
Check For Cabinet Compatibility
Lastly, ensure the cam locks you buy for your medical cabinets are the correct style. Cabinets made from plastic may need a different type of cam lock than what you would use for a metal cabinet, for example.
Hardened steel, stainless steel and brass are the most common materials for a cam lock. Most of the time, stainless steel is the ideal choice for both plastic and metal cabinets.
Pro Tip: Always Use A Professional For Installation
Over time, your hospital maintenance staff should get to grips with installing a cam lock on any of your medical cabinets. At first, though, it would be best to hire a locksmith to do this for you.
Your technical team can then learn from the locksmith how to install the cam lock on each medical cabinet. They can also get useful advice on the most compatible sizes, head styles, and materials to buy. A locksmith can also guide your team on selecting the correct materials for your plastic and/or metal medical cabinets.
Peace Of Mind For Healthcare Teams
With so much to deal with daily, it’s no surprise that hospitals can forget to maintain or replace their cam locks. Over time, though, these locks will wear out and need to be replaced. Or, it could be time to upgrade security by installing cam locks.
Either way, cam locks provide an easy way to meet compliance requirements, secure access to your medical cabinets, and make it easier for staff with the correct credentials to open and close them.
They can improve security and compliance while also reducing the likelihood that your hospital staff’s workflow will be interrupted by jammed locks or stolen supplies. Upgrade your medical storage today for peace of mind.