AAMI ST79:2017 January 2021 Update

In January 2021, AAMI ST79:2017 released an update to the standard in the form of four amendments. These amendments look to address concerns regarding four key areas: Environmental Services/Fans/Food and Drink, Inspection of Insulated Instruments, Modification of Content Pertaining to Frequency of Cleaning Routine Care of Sterile Processing Areas in Health Care Facilities, and Content Addressing Recording BI Lot Numbers in Sterilizer Records for Sterile Processing in Health Care Facilities.

A.1: Amendment for Environmental Services/Fans/Food and Drink provides more specific recommendations for cleaning sterile processing departments. A multidisciplinary team should be assembled to establish cleaning procedures based on a risk assessment of all areas. Environmental cleaning procedures should be established by a multidisciplinary team and based on a risk assessment for each processing area. This amendment discussed the use of fans in sterile processing. Finally, this amendment explicitly states that food and drink should not be brought into any processing area.

A.2: Amendment for Inspection of Insulated Instruments includes two new subsections, 8.2 and 8.21, to AAMI ST79:2017 providing a more detailed explanation of inspection of insulated instruments during processing. These sections discuss the importance of using enhanced inspection tools, such as lighted magnification and borescopes when examining insulated instruments for cleanliness and integrity.

A.3: Amendment for Modification of Content Pertaining to Frequency of Cleaning for Routine Care of Sterilizers for Sterile Processing Areas in Health Care Facilities removes the recommendation for the daily cleaning of sterilizers from section 12.4, and in its place indicates that the manufacturer’s IFU is referenced in regards to frequency of cleaning with a daily visual inspection.

Amendment A.4: Amendment for Content Addressing Recording BI Lot Numbers in Sterilizer Records for Sterile Processing in Health Care Facilities updates section 13.3.3 to state that BI lot number should be recorded in recording keeping documents.

These amendments were provided to owners of  AAMI ST79:2017 and we highly recommend purchasing this standard if your facility is responsible for cleaning and sterilizing instruments or tools for use in patients and clients. You can purchase AAMI ST79:2017 at the AAMI.org Store