Autoclaves & sterilizers

## Sizing it

Size the autoclave to the busiest day, not the average one. A unit that needs three cycles to clear a morning list becomes the bottleneck for the whole department, and cycle time is not something you can improve later.

## What to verify

A sterilizer is a pressure vessel. The chamber, the door seal and the safety valve are the safety-critical parts, and they are the parts a cosmetic refurbishment skips. Ask for the pressure test, and ask whether the door interlock has been verified — it is the component that protects the operator.

Then ask how sterility will be proven in service. A machine that reaches temperature is not the same as a load that was sterilised, which is what routine biological and chemical indicators are for.

## Installation

Horizontal autoclaves need water supply, drainage and three-phase power in place before delivery. We survey first, because discovering it on the day costs a week.