Sterilization Compliance Self-Check

Sterilization Compliance Self-Check

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See what a provincial inspector typically looks for in your sterilization records — and where your current routine may fall short.

A 2-minute check. No account, no sign-up, no email required. You get the full result on screen, and you can print it.

Choose your setting

We only show a verified checklist once we have mapped that setting field by field against its own regulator's published requirements. So far we have completed this for dental (Ontario).

Dental clinics Ontario · verified against RCDSO published text
Medical & family practice Coming soon
Long-term care & retirement homesComing soon
Diagnostic & research laboratoriesComing soon
Food manufacturing & processingComing soon
Your progress 0 / 14 completed

You have answered 0 of 14 items

A · Biological monitoring

  • A1 Do you run biological indicator (BI) testing?

    Your answer for A1
    Evidence & risk

    Evidence: RCDSO IPAC Standard of Practice (v3)

    Chemical indicators show a cycle ran; only a BI directly verifies sterilization was achieved.

  • A2 How often do you run a BI test?

    Your answer for A2
    Evidence & risk

    Evidence: RCDSO IPAC Self Audit Review Form (v2) — a biological indicator plus a control, once daily for each type of cycle.

  • A3 When you run a BI, do you also run a control?

    Your answer for A3
    Evidence & risk

    Evidence: The same RCDSO form — "a biological indicator plus a control".

    Without a control, a positive result cannot be attributed to the sterilizer rather than the indicator itself.

  • A4 If a BI comes back positive, do you know what to do next?

    Your answer for A4
    Evidence & risk

    Evidence: RCDSO — take the sterilizer out of service, then review the physical and chemical indicator records since the last negative result.

    With no protocol, instruments may be released from a failed load — this is the highest-risk gap on this list.

B · Sterilization load records

  • B1 Do you keep a record for every sterilization load or cycle?

    Your answer for B1
    Evidence & risk

    Evidence: RCDSO IPAC Self Audit Review Form (v2) — record group 1.

    With no record, you cannot show an inspector that the cycle was run or checked.

  • B2 Does your record contain all nine fields?

    date · sterilizer number · load number · load contents · cycle · sterilization time · temperature · pressure · person responsible

    Your answer for B2
    Evidence & risk

    Evidence: RCDSO IPAC Self Audit Review Form (v2) — mapped field by field.

    A missing field counts as an incomplete record during an inspection.

  • B3 Even if your sterilizer prints a chart, do you still record time, temperature and pressure?

    Your answer for B3
    Evidence & risk

    Evidence: RCDSO — where a sterilizer has a recording device, the physical parameters are checked at the end of the cycle and documented; without one, they are checked during the cycle and documented, and cannot be filled in afterwards from memory.

    "The chart covers it" leaves three of the nine fields blank.

C · Maintenance and malfunction

  • C1 Do you keep a service and maintenance log (date, who did it, what was done)?

    Your answer for C1
    Evidence & risk

    Evidence: RCDSO IPAC Self Audit Review Form (v2) — record group 2.

    Equipment drift can cause sterilization failure without an error showing.

  • C2 Do you keep a malfunction log, with the action taken?

    Your answer for C2
    Evidence & risk

    Evidence: RCDSO IPAC Self Audit Review Form (v2) — record group 3.

    Without it, you cannot trace which instruments came from a suspect cycle.

D · Package labels

  • D1 Does every sterilized package carry the required label information?

    Your answer for D1
    Evidence & risk

    Evidence: RCDSO IPAC Self Audit Review Form (v2) — record group 4, "package label set".

    Without traceable labels you cannot scope a recall to the right loads.

E · Retention

  • E1 How long do you keep your sterilization records?

    Your answer for E1
    Evidence & risk

    Evidence: RCDSO IPAC Standard of Practice (v3); the same form states "Logbook kept for 10 years after last entry".

    Less than 10 years leaves a gap inside the traceability window.

F · Pre-sterilization

  • F1 Are instruments cleaned and decontaminated before sterilization?

    🟡 Not yet verified word-for-word against RCDSO
    Your answer for F1
    Evidence & risk

    Evidence: 🟡 General IPAC practice. We have not verified this specific item word-for-word against the RCDSO text, so we label it as general practice rather than quoting the regulator.

    Organic residue can cause sterilization to fail.

G · People and process

  • G1 Is the person responsible for sterilization named on the record?

    Your answer for G1
    Evidence & risk

    Evidence: RCDSO IPAC Self Audit Review Form (v2) — one of the nine load-record fields is the name of the person responsible for sterilization.

    Without a name, responsibility cannot be traced.

  • G2 Does everyone follow the same written procedure?

    Your answer for G2
    Evidence & risk

    Evidence: RCDSO 5540 — Dental Office Policy and Procedure Manual Template (v3).

    Practice varies with whoever is on shift, so results are not reproducible.

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    Your self-check result — Dental (Ontario)

    You answered 0 / 14 items

    • 🔴 0 items need action (needs action)
    • ⚠️ 0 items need verification (needs verification)
    • ✅ 0 items already in place (already in place)

    Based on: RCDSO IPAC Standard of Practice (v3) · RCDSO IPAC Self Audit Review Form (v2) · last checked 2026-10-04

    This is a self-check list. It is not a compliance determination and does not replace an inspection by your regulator.

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