Risk detection and assessment of hospital waste management and approaches for risks reduction in children\'s medical center hospital using failure mode and effects analysis

• Main Authors: H Godini, s Karimpour Roshan, Z Imanian, T Naji, B Mirza Hedayat
• Format: Article
• Language: fas
• Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2017-12-01
• Series: سلامت و محیط
• Subjects: risk priority number; failure mode and effects analysis; special medical waste; hospital waste management
• Online Access: http://ijhe.tums.ac.ir/article-1-5908-en.html

Background and Objective: The failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is one of risk assessment techniques. The aim of this study was to identify, assess and prioritize the risk associated with the process of medical waste management using the FMEA method and provide appropriate strategies and measures for controlling the risk of this process in the Childrenchr('39')s Medical Center Hospital. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in this hospital during the first 6 months of 2016. For data collection, the standard worksheet of FMEA and object-oriented sampling were used. In this method, each error based on the severity, the occurrence rate and probability of finding an error is scored between 1 and 10, which the priority number of the risk is obtained from the product of these 3 indicators. Results: In this study, a total of 33 potential risks associated with the management of medical wastes were identified using FMEA risk assessments. The highest priority number for non-washed waste containers is 360 and the lowest priority number is the risk of not having the Safety box for disposal of sharp waste in the wards, which is 30. Conclusion: One of the most important sources of environmental pollution is medical wastes that have high costs in different stages of waste management in the hospital, thus, the use of the FMEA technique can reduce costs and increase the safety and health of the personnel. It also helps to preserve the environment.