St Vincent’s Hospital

Replacement of Sanitary Drains

St. Vincent’s Hospital released minor project to replace the corroded sections of the sanitary drains within their carpark. This was the first stage of a major pipe replacement program. The Hospital areas located above the carpark had to be isolated for the duration of the removal & replacement of the drainpipes.

As a 24/7 hospital and carpark, careful work scheduling and effective communication were critical to the project’s success. Some work could only be undertaken during strict windows of availability, due to the main kitchen’s schedule, which finished late in the evening and started again early each morning.

Safety management within the 24/7 carpark required detailed coordination. Maintaining vehicular access was essential, whilst JNJ’s Plumber’s work area and equipment had to be segregated from both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

Taking these factors into account, all works were performed after hours to minimize any potential disruption to hospital services and normal carpark access. After each night’s work, the main kitchen and other critical medical areas were back on-line by 6:00am each morning .

Disconnection and removal of the old pipework was carefully managed due to odours emitting from the disconnected drain.

Due to the site’s sensitivity, JNJ’s Plumbers controlled odours from the old pipework by plugging each opened section, removing them from site as soon as they had been detached.

The methodology, scheduling and control measures that JNJ’s Plumbing team employed were so successful that these same processes became the template for all subsequent work stages