Determining and Rating Environmental Aspects caused by the Production Process of Oxygenating Machine, Infectious Wastes Disinfection Device, and an Autoclave System with an Emphasis on Fuzzy AHP

Abstract

Introduction: The medical device industry plays a special role in promoting the health and safety of the community. Its proper and optimal management can also significantly affect the national development of any country in terms of economics, health, medical education, and research. The present study attempted to evaluate the impact of environmental aspects of the medical device manufacturing unit on the environmental quality of the project by examining the impact of activities, production process, equipment, services, and the coefficient of action.

Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was conducted with a practical purpose. To identify the environmental aspects in the process of producing oxygenators, infectious waste disinfection device, and autoclave system, the EFMEA method, severity of the environmental consequence, probability of its occurrence, and probability of its discovery were applied using the Fuzzy AHP method.

Results: The results showed that the RPN was at its highest value of 160 before the control measures. This was due to the excessive energy consumption and air pollutant emission, which reached 40 after taking the control measures. In the process of manufacturing the above-mentioned apparatus, it was found that the welding activity in the production process of normal weight oxygenator was 0.223. The staining activity in the production process of wastes disinfection device with a normal weight of 0.216 and  thewelding activity in the autoclave production process with a normal weight of 0.187 had the highest environmental priority.

Conclusion: According to the results, environmental aspects differ in various devices and we cannot generalize the results by periodization of one device.