Safety and Maintenance Systems for Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute

Project Overview

The Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute (MAHI), a $196 million, 9-storey “hospital within a hospital,” was named after the Right Honourable Don Mazankowski, former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, active Conservative politician, and businessman. The Institute is a world-class center of excellence in pediatric and adult heart disease prevention, treatment, research, and education. The MAHI establishes a separate identity from a cluster of hospital buildings while maintaining a physical and visual connection to the main hospital – the Walter C. Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre. Symbolic of the heart institute is a towering curtain of glass that curves around the south wall. The roof of the building features a heliport and roof garden with specially designed safety nets around the helicopter landing pad.

Pro-Bel Technical Approach

The suspended maintenance and fall protection requirements on the MAHI project included monorails for cleaning interior atrium glass and maintaining electrical and mechanical appurtenances; horizontal cable lifelines for travel on the roof and to safely access workstations (davit locations); both roof-rigged and ground-rigged davit arms; platform stabilization buttons; and u-bar safety anchors.

Innovative Solutions for Restricted Spaces

A unique feature of the suspended maintenance plan involved designing a davit base system carefully considering how the davits would be used for lifting the platforms for window cleaning/exterior building maintenance. This was due to the sloped roof edges and the helicopter pad, which had near-horizontal safety grating/netting around the pad, which was close to the roof’s edges. This confined area would not permit the use of roof-rigged davits. As a result, ground-rigged davit arms were designed to go behind and between the safety grating sections – an unusual situation – and were ultimately successfully sorted out by the Pro-Bel engineers.

Stabilization Systems for Exterior Maintenance

For exterior platform work, stabilization buttons (detent pins) were installed on the window mullions of the exterior building on every third floor. Stabilization of a platform, cage, or boson\’s chair equipment is designed to keep the equipment in contact with the building\’s façade to prevent movement. Without stabilization, worker safety could be in jeopardy due to wind action, or building faces could become damaged due to equipment impact.