2023 Excellence in Safety Innovation Award

We were presented with the 2023 EMCOR Safety Innovation Award for development of a custom dust containment solution, called the Wall-E Box, that has helped us significantly improve air quality during retrofit projects, while also promoting safety. 

In 2023, our healthcare team was contracted for an access control retrofit project at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) that required approximately 50 wall cut-ins for new card readers. To safely and efficiently complete this work in an active hospital space, we realized we needed a more effective dust containment solution for the cut-ins and reached out to our research and development department for help.

Typically for this work, we would either erect negative air dust containment enclosures or utilize single-use glove bags. However, glove bags were not 100 percent effective at containing dust particles, potentially exposing patients and staff to infections. Dust containment barriers were labor intensive and cumbersome, blocking pathways and creating trip hazards. Both solutions required long, inefficient approval processes.

Our team collaborated with OHSU’s Environmental Health and Safety and Infection Control groups to devise an alternative solution: a clear containment box that adheres to any wall using vacuum pressure. A HEPA vacuum negatively pressurizes the space inside the box to suction it to the wall and, effectively, creates a portable miniature fume hood.

Users can perform work through an open sash at the front of the box, with all their tools staged inside on a magnetic strip. Dust and debris are captured by the HEPA vacuum and filtered from the air before it’s returned to the hospital environment.

After two and a half months of design, prototyping, testing, and assessment, OHSU enthusiastically approved the tool for use throughout the campus and created a standard operating procedure (SOP) around it. With the tool’s first deployment set for OHSU’s children’s hospital, the team lovingly named it the Wall-E Box.

The Wall-E Box has had a tangible impact on our safety and productivity at OHSU. Testing showed that operating room air quality was cleaner after cut-in work was performed. Wall-E operates from a cordless power supply, eliminating trip hazards. It fits on a single cart for easy transport, setup, and takedown that doesn’t block pathways or require heavy lifting. Because the box is reusable, waste and costs are reduced. And, with an SOP established, work can be performed without going through a lengthy approval process while following a set procedure that helps ensure quality and eliminate safety variables.

With the Wall-E Box, our team demonstrated outstanding creativity in the face of a pressing safety challenge—we’re proud of their innovative spirit and to earn this recognition.