In Finnish 
The central sterile supply department (CSSD) of Turku University Hospital (TYKS) T-hospital in Finland maintains about 15,000 instruments every day. Thanks to its efficient operation, the instruments used for surgery are available in the right place at the right time, cleaned, disinfected, inspected and sterilized.
Automation has eliminated heavy transfer and lifting tasks from the sterile supply technicians’ work, and made operations more efficient. The advanced system arouses a lot of interest and attracts visitors both from Finland and abroad to see it in action.
”When the planning of the central sterile supply department began, sterile supply technicians had the highest sickness absence rates in the entire hospital district, up to twice as high as other groups of professionals,” explains service coordinator Ilse-Marie Österman. The large number of sickness absences was caused by their physically demanding work that caused musculoskeletal disorders.
The hospital wanted to change this by investing in machines and automation. An automated system that takes care of lifting, moving and transporting loads was specifically designed for the CSSD.
