sterile services technician
Sterile services technicians ensure decontamination of medical devices in compliance with strict hygienic procedures. They dismantle and re-assemble sophisticated medical equipment through sterilising, cleaning, and repackaging it for further usage, under supervision, following the orders of the doctor of medicine or other qualified medical personnel.
sterile services technician sterile services technicians ensure decontamination of medical devices in compliance with strict hygienic procedures. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include hygiene in a health care setting, microbiology-bacteriology, surgical asepsis, infection control, sterilization techniques.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £29,084 a year for Nursing auxiliaries and assistants (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £25,189 to £33,294 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 6131). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Service and sales workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only sterile services technician, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 5. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Biology
- Production and Processing
- Public Safety and Security
- Administrative
- Chemistry
- Mechanical
What you'd actually do
- Operate and maintain steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads, and maintenance procedures performed.
- Clean instruments to prepare them for sterilization.
- Record sterilizer test results.
- Organize and assemble routine or specialty surgical instrument trays or other sterilized supplies, filling special requests as needed.
- Examine equipment to detect leaks, worn or loose parts, or other indications of disrepair.
- Report defective equipment to appropriate supervisors or staff.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does sterile services technician do?
Sterile services technicians ensure decontamination of medical devices in compliance with strict hygienic procedures. They dismantle and re-assemble sophisticated medical equipment through sterilising, cleaning, and repackaging it for further usage, under supervision, following the orders of the doctor of medicine or other qualified medical personnel.
What skills does sterile services technician need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include hygiene in a health care setting, microbiology-bacteriology, surgical asepsis, infection control, sterilization techniques, professional documentation in health care. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace sterile services technician?
Our AI-durability model gives sterile services technician a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.