What are the three steps of decontamination?
Table of Contents
There are three levels of decontamination, general cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation. Equipment used in health care may be designated as single use, single patient use or reusable multi-patient use.
What is the HTM 01 05 policy?
HTM 01-05 is intended to raise the quality of decontamination work in primary care dental services by covering the decontamination of reusable instruments within dental facilities.

What are the 5 stages for a washer disinfector cycle?
Washer-disinfectors
- Flushing — removes both solid and fluid “gross” debris contamination.
- Washing — removes any remaining debris contamination.
- Rinsing — removes the detergent used during cleaning.
- Thermal disinfection — heat is used for a specified time to disinfect the instruments.
What is a decontamination shower?
Decontamination showers provide temporary sanitary facilities for accident cleanup, rescue operations, training exercises, and emergency response. The showers flush users with water to wash away contaminants.

What is the hardest form of decontamination to validate?
Manual cleaning
Manual cleaning is the least effective method of cleaning instruments, the hardest to validate, and carries an increased risk of ‘sharps injury’. Manual cleaning is still accepted as a method under HTM 01-05 (England), WHTM 01-05 (Wales) and SDCEP (Scotland) allowing you to comply with essential quality requirements.
What temperature should the water be for manual scrubbing?
Latest standards indicate that a water temperature of <45°C is used to prevent protein coagulation and fixing of soil to the instrument. Wash – Removes any remaining soil. Mechanical and chemical processes loosen and break up contamination adhering to the instrument surface.
How do you do decontamination?
Decontamination is the reduction or removal of chemical agents. Decontamination may be accomplished by removal of these agents by physical means or by chemical neutralization or detoxification. Decontamination of skin is the primary concern, but decontamination of eyes and wounds must also be done when necessary.
How do you use a decontamination shower?
The decontamination process requires you to undress and strip before stepping into the shower zone and be under the shower for fifteen minutes in the least for optimum effect to take place.
Is decontamination the same as disinfection?
Decontamination: A process that destroys or removes all microbial contamination to render an item or the environment completely safe. The process of Disinfection is used to reduce the number of viable micro-organisms on a device, but it is not guaranteed to inactivate them all.