Abstract Health care-associated infections can have a significant impact on morbidity and mortality, so effective prevention and control is vital. In addition to usual contacts in the general hospital (where microbial transmission may occur through person to person contact), surgical patients are also at risk of infection via reusable medical devices. Decontamination aims to prevent such incidences through the processes of cleaning, disinfection and sterilization. Risk assessment of the reusable medical device must be made and consideration paid to the contamination present. This review discusses the various methods commonly employed in the decontamination process.