An Integrated Occupational Health Consultation Model for the Medical Supply Manufacturing Industry

Abstract

In this research, we designed a three-stage consultation procedure and eight major consultation items in order to construct an integrated occupational health consultation model that emphasizes both inspection and consultation. The main characteristics of the proposed model include cooperation among governmental departments, combining non-governmental professional consulting organizations, and establishing partnerships with industrial associations. This model has clear active and passive performance indicators and includes technical guidance during consultation as well as the exit mechanism after consultation. This consultation model enables small-and medium-sized enterprises to achieve environmental improvements with minimum investment. Companies that improved after consultation have a mean ethylene oxide exposure concentration, for the time weighted average, that dropped from 7.36 ± 16.88 ppm to 0.76 ± 1.35 ppm (p<0.01). In addition, the overall company compliant item ratio for regulations increased from 34.1% to 89.7%. The above results demonstrate the integrated occupational health consultation model assists small-and medium-sized enterprises in reducing exposure concentrations at operational sites. Our results further demonstrate the feasibility of successfully implementing the proposed consultation model within Taiwan's medical supply manufacturing industry.