Sterilisation Technician
What the work is
Cleans, sterilises and packages surgical instruments and other hospital equipment, soft goods and linen in a sterilisation service facility.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Assembles, packages, inspects and sorts surgical instruments and other hospital equipment, soft goods and linen for cleaning and sterilisation
- Operates cleaning and sterilisation equipment according to guidelines
- Monitors sterilisation cycles and equipment functionality
- Maintains inventory of sterile supplies and restocks as needed
- Adheres to infection control and safety protocols
- Collaborates with Health Professionals to ensure that sterilised equipment is readily available for patient care
- Cleans and maintains the sterilisation service facility and equipment
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in the sterile services department of a fictional regional hospital, plus a stone benchtop workshop in the same town. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- Every tray goes out to theatre complete, clean and checked, with time to spare
- A slab of stone is cut so cleanly that the join between two pieces is hard to see
- A busy day ends with nothing missing and the whole team sitting down for lunch
Hard days
- An urgent request arrives for something that cannot be made safe any faster
- Hours standing, wearing protective gear, in a warm and noisy room
- A counted set that comes back with something missing and no obvious reason
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 731937, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.