All instruments contaminated with oral and other body fluids must be thoroughly cleaned and sterilised after use.
The decontamination process (also known as reprocessing) includes pre-sterilisation cleaning, disinfection, inspection, sterilisation and storage.
Manufacturers are required to provide instructions for the decontamination of their equipment - these should be followed. It is worth checking with the manufacturer prior to purchase that the equipment can be used for the purpose intended and decontaminated by the methods used in the practice.
Fully Compliant with HTM 01-05 2013
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On completion of this module you will be able to describe the difference between disinfection, decontamination and sterilisation, the layout of decontamination areas and discuss the routine use of autoclaves.