Facility planning guide
Plan a morgue as a workflow, not a list of equipment
A useful brief connects demand, transfer routes, body storage, examination or preparation, utilities, hygiene, staff safety, maintenance access, and measurable handover criteria.
This guide is a general planning framework. Local healthcare, building, occupational safety, environmental, infection-control, and licensing requirements take precedence.
01 — Demand
Define the operating case
Capacity should start from cases per year, average holding time, peak variation, special-case reserve, downtime allowance, and the organization’s release process. A single average is not enough: document the normal day, a credible peak period, and the contingency mode.
Demand inputs
- — Annual and monthly case history
- — Average and maximum holding time
- — Seasonal, weekend, and incident peaks
- — Bariatric, isolation, and unidentified cases
- — Planned maintenance and backup capacity
Planning output
- — Required normal storage positions
- — Operational and emergency reserve
- — Temperature-zone requirements
- — Expansion or temporary-capacity strategy
- — Target utilization and escalation trigger
02 — Flow
Map people, bodies, materials, waste, and information
Draw each route from arrival to release. Identify where routes cross, where privacy or security changes, where lifting occurs, and where cleaning or waste handling must happen. The equipment layout should follow the approved flow.
Arrival
Vehicle access, identification, transfer height, privacy, receiving records, and temporary holding.
Storage
Tray interface, lifting method, aisle width, door swing, retrieval frequency, and reserve positions.
Examination
Transfer, work surface, ventilation, drainage, imaging, lighting, tools, samples, and waste.
Release
Identification check, preparation, viewing or transfer, documentation, and controlled exit.
03 — Coordination
Freeze room and equipment interfaces together
| Interface | Questions to close before order | Required evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Space | Overall dimensions, door swing, loading aisle, service panels, removal route, future expansion | Coordinated dimensioned drawing |
| Structure | Equipment weight, point loads, floor loading, anchors, plinths, wall supports | Load and anchoring schedule |
| Electrical | Voltage, frequency, phase, connected load, starting current, isolation, backup supply | Electrical data and diagram |
| Mechanical | Heat rejection, ambient range, ventilation, exhaust, water, drainage, condensation | Utility and heat-load schedule |
| Digital | Remote alarms, BMS contacts, data logging, network, access control, cybersecurity | Interface description and test plan |
| Hygiene | Materials, joints, drainage, cleaning access, approved chemicals, waste route | Material and cleaning declaration |
04 — Acceptance
Write the test before choosing the equipment
A requirement becomes useful when it can be measured. Define test conditions, loads, instruments, limits, responsibilities, records, defect handling, and reinspection before manufacture.
Factory
Dimensions, materials, workmanship, controls, alarms, utilities, test records, documents, and packing.
Site
Receiving condition, positioning, connections, functional checks, representative-load performance, and interfaces.
Handover
Training, manuals, final drawings, certificates, calibration, spares, warranty, maintenance, and open actions.