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 MEDICAL COMPANY UPGRADING AIR QUALITY EQUIPMENTFriday July 27, 2007 A Sydney company which manufactures and supplies sterile equipment for operations in hospitals around Australia, Unomedical, is now considering its legal options, after receiving notice from Pittwater Council to cease sterilisation. The notification which the company received late on Thursday afternoon follows concerns raised recently by NSW Health and the Department of Environment and Climate Change about the discharge levels of ethylene oxide, a gas used in the sterilisation process. The Unomedical company is the largest manufacturing plant in the Pittwater Council area, employing about 170 people in the production of disposable products for use in hospital operating theatres and the healthcare sector. Managing Director, Anders Kolding, said sterilisation of the disposable equipment had now ceased. The company was reviewing the manufacturing process to see what equipment could continue to be produced and how many staff would be required for the reduced operations. “This is very hard for us all, as we have a wonderful workforce here. But we are determined to get t he company up and running at full production again as soon as possible,” he said. “All we can do is to ask our staff and customers to be patient.” “We are in the business of protecting peoples’ health and the environment and will ensure that the concerns about air quality are immediately addressed,” he said. Mr. Kolding said Unomedical had previously agreed to install a new $300,000 catalytic converter at the Mona Vale plant to reduce exhaust gases and that process would now be accelerated. Unomedical had spent about six million dollars on the new state of the art factory in 2002 and had complied fully with all requirements. The company supplies most of the disposable sterile equipment packs used every day in Australian hospitals. “Hospitals around Australia have orders with us for the packs of sterile disposable products including gowns, swabs, cotton balls and masks they’ll need over the next few days and weeks for thousands of operations like knee surgery. “ “We are worried about what will happen to the current hospital surgery schedules as we run down the stock in our warehouse,” he said. . Mr. Kolding said he believed it was essential to safeguard both the long term health of the local community and the health of people requiring urgent surgery in hospitals around Australia. |
