Meeting JCAHO Requirements for Refrigerated Storage

The Secure Guard II door lock

Keypad door locks help meet JCAHO requirements for securing samples stored in healthcare organizations’ refrigerators and freezers.  The aim is to control access to lab freezer and lab refrigerator contents while eliminating the risks of keys being lost or duplicated without authorization.  A solution for security departments in healthcare organizations and research labs is the Norlake Secure Guard II™ keypad door lock system.  It is compatible with Nor-Lake glass and solid door scientific refrigerators and freezers as well as certain models from other suppliers.

Secure Guard II, available from Tovatech, provides up to 250 users with access to refrigerated storage units using their existing magstripe ID or proximity ID cards.  Adding and deleting users can be accomplished at the unit.  Stored information is safe due to the non-volatile memory.   An audit trail of the most recent 1500 access attempts provides date, time and user name, and is downloadable via an RJ11 communications port.

The Secure Guard II door lock system is powered with 6 AA batteries and has a low battery indicator.  Should the batteries expire it can be jump started though its 9-volt battery power port.

Optional Software for Added Versatility

Research and health care facilities with multiple refrigeration units requiring secured access can manage the Secure Guard II door lock system with optional software using a laptop computer and RJ-11 port.  With this enhancement security personnel can call up the access rights window and control which users have access to each locked refrigeration unit in their facility as well as the locks to which users are denied access.  This provides an important control to avoid incidents where, for example, potentially dangerous or highly confidential samples are stored.

The audit trails window displays the most recent 1500 lock “events” along with name, date and time.  The trail indicates if an invalid access was attempted such as, for example, access time restrictions.  Data can be archived, saved to a TXT file and printed.

In summary, scientific refrigerators and freezers used to store pharmaceuticals and specimens at healthcare organizations, research labs and similar facilities are usually shipped with keyed door locking mechanisms.  As the number of personnel authorized to access these units increases keyed security may become unmanageable.  Keys become lost, may be duplicated and/or shared with individuals not authorized to access contents.  The solution to this challenge is a supervised keyless system coupled with internally or remotely programmed access controls and the ability to record who accessed the refrigeration units and when.

Contact Tovatech’s scientific refrigeration specialists for additional information on the Secure Guard II system as well as answers to your lab refrigeration questions.