The Importance of Using your Operator’s Manuals

Whether you are a sterile processing technician, supervisor, educator or possibly a service provider, obtaining the most recent versions of your equipment’s operator's manuals and technical manuals is the key to success when working with reprocessing equipment of all kinds. This blog dives into the important factors to remember when it comes to manuals, and how to use them and why having them available to your staff is critical.

These “handy booklets” come with almost all appliances, machines, and pieces of equipment in a variety of industries and are not just 300 pages of wasted paper. Unlike a home appliance or lawn mower, these documents that support your reprocessing equipment should be treated like patient health information or more importantly your private diary, guarded for life. These manuals come with more than user instructions but also pertinent information on how the equipment functions, maintenance protocols, troubleshooting tips and most importantly, safety hazards.

Most manufacturers will provide you with this document or library of resources at the time of installation. Sometimes this step often gets overlooked, depending on the process for the manual’s hand off. It is critical for the department lead and the equipment manufacturer provider to prioritize this hand off step and ensure the user receives this and has access to all manuals and information supporting the product being installed. Whether the documents are in digital format or hard copy, dedicate a time to ask any questions you might have regarding the document, and ensure you understand where to locate information in the manual itself. Next, make sure to dedicate a safe place for keeping these and making sure your staff is aware of their location. You always want to make sure to hold on to these for the length of the life cycle of the equipment. Hard copies that are locked in a filing cabinet are not useful for the staff, so finding creative ways to utilize the information in your department can be key to the team’s success and ensure proper usage of the equipment itself.

Training and education for your reprocessing staff should be built around the information provided in the manual and kept with your normal inventory of instructions for use. Most manuals can also be delivered digitally or shared via a secure network for safe keeping and easy access One helpful thing to do is place it on the desktop of the computers in the department or store it in your IFU database and ask your team to review them periodically. One thing to keep in mind, is that many times these are developed based on product serial numbers and very specific to your reprocessing machinery. So always ensure you have the latest and most recent version and that it reflects the right product you are using.

What to look for in these long documents?

Introductions- the purpose of the document
Warranty- how the equipment is covered and what to expect from the manufacturer.
Safety- proper use, requirements, and general safety instructions for operation.
Operations- all you need to know on the usage and operations of the equipment or product.
Errors- messages, key symbols and troubleshooting provided with equipment and how to navigate errors when they occur.
Inspection and Maintenance- includes routine maintenance, things to look out for and intervals to check on the products, this might include weekly or daily protocols to follow as well.
Symbols- important notices and information about the product that should be adhered to like warnings and cautions.

Unique ways to incorporate these into your department’s workflow

Build the information from the manuals into your department’s policies and procedures.
Utilize the manuals during training and ensure staff can locate, identify, and read the manuals.
Incorporate operational steps in the staff competencies to ensure the proper utilization is in place and the staff can demonstrate the steps.
Create standard work instructions based on the manuals.
Create visual aides from the use of the warnings to ensure the staff and following the safety protocols.