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Minnesota Dual-Training Pipeline Sterile Processing Technician Competencies Survey

We need your input!

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry ("DLI") Dual-Training Pipeline team is conducting a survey on proposed competency standards for potentially adding a new occupation in the ­­­­­Health Care Services industry. The information you provide in the survey will be used by DLI to create the Sterile Processing Technician dual-training competency standards.

Your participation in this survey is voluntary. Any information you choose to supply on this survey will be used by DLI staff members working on creating competency standards for Sterile Processing Technician; competency models and all survey data entered are public information.

In addition to participating in the survey, you are invited to join a meeting on January 20, 2026 at 1pm to discuss the new possible Health Care Services competency standards. The link to join the meeting is here.

If you have questions regarding the survey or any other work of Minnesota Dual-Training Pipeline, please email pipeline.program@state.mn.us. Thanks!
Draft - Sterile Processing Technician
Minnesota Dual-Training Pipeline Competency Model for Health Care Services Occupation: Sterile Processing Technician. Employer requirements left blank for employers to incorporate their own competencies. Occupation-specific competencies: Clearn, sterilize and prepare surgical instruments for procedures, assist in preparing equipment for each surgery's requirements, apply sanitary, infection control and safety standards, package and label items for correct sterilization method, follow infection control guidelines when working with decontamination, report potentially unsafe situations and malfunctioning equipment to supervisor, initiative cleaning and restoring of all work areas and ordering supplies, apply principles of aseptic technique, standard and transmission, collaborate with other disciplines to ensure positive patient outcomes, maintain a clean and safe environment. Industry wide technical competencies: Health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA), safety promotion, infection control, practice ethical responsibility, health and disease, diagnostic procedures, laboratory techniques, medical terminology, biomedical equipment safety, anatomy and physiology, cleaning best practices. Industry-wide technical competencies: Health care delivery, health information, health industry ethics, laws and regulations, health industry fundamentals, safety systems, personal protective equipment. Workplace competencies: Teamwork, sustainable practices, customer/patient focus, creative thinking, business fundamentals, health and safety, planning and organizing, working with tools and technology, scheduling and coordinating, checking, examining and recording, problem solving and decision making. Academic competencies: Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Communication, Critical and analytical thinking, basic computer skills. Personal effectiveness competencies: Interpersonal skills, integrity, professionalism, initiative, dependability and reliability, adaptability and flexibility, lifelong learning, compassion and empathy, cultural humility. Based on: Fundamentals of Health Care Competency Model, Employment and Training Administration, United States Department of Labor, February 2025. Fore more detailed infomration about competency model creation and sources, visit dli.mn.gov/business/workforce/health-care-services.
Competency Model for Sterile Processing Technician Sterile Processing Technician – A healthcare professional responsible for cleaning, sterilizing, and maintaining medical instruments and equipment to ensure patient safety and prevent infections. *Pipeline recommends the Industry-Sector Technical Competencies as formal training opportunities (provided through related instruction) and the Occupation-Specific Competencies as on-the-job (OJT) training opportunities. Industry-Sector Technical Competencies Related Instruction for dual training means the organized and systematic form of education resulting in the enhancement of skills and competencies related to the dual trainee’s current or intended occupation. • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) – Understanding of legislation that provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information, and how it translates into daily medical practice. • Safety promotion – Understand and adhere to standardized protocols and procedures, including rigorous guidelines for sterilization, disinfection, and handling of medical instruments. • Infection control – Understand and practice infection control to ensure a sanitary environment for clients. Knowledge of gowning and gloving, waste disposal and infection containment procedures. • Practice ethical responsibility – Understand medical ethics that allow for people, regardless of race, gender, or religion to be guaranteed quality and principled care. • Health and disease – Understand the overall condition of an organism at a given time; disease is a disorder or malfunction of the mind or body, which destroys good health. • Diagnostic procedures – Knowledge of medical tests performed to detect, diagnose, or monitor diseases and determine a course of treatment. • Laboratory techniques – Understand the processing of blood samples and other bodily fluids for evaluation. • Medical terminology – Understand language used to describe the human body, including its components, processes, conditions affecting it, and procedures performed upon it.
• Biomedical equipment safety – Understand the measures taken to ensure the safe and accurate operation of medical equipment that is used in patient care. • Anatomy and physiology – Understand basics of the structure and relationship of body parts and the function of body parts and the body as a whole. • Cleaning best practices – Understand key practices including precleaning, environmental cleaning, training and education and quality assurance to ensure the safety and efficacy of medical instruments. Occupation-Specific Competencies On-the-Job Training is hands-on instruction completed at work to learn the core competencies necessary to succeed in an occupation. Common types of OJT include job shadowing, mentorship, cohort-based training, assignment-based project evaluation and discussion-based training. • Clean, sterilize and prepare surgical instruments for procedures – Understand the process to ensure the instruments are safe and ready for surgical use. • Assist in preparing equipment for each surgery’s requirements – Know how to set up the operating room to ensure all necessary instruments and supplies are ready for use. • Apply sanitary, infection control and safety standards – Understand the standards that ensure the safety and effectiveness of medical instruments including decontamination protocols, inspection and assembly requirements, sterilization parameters, and storage and distribution standards. • Package and label items for correct sterilization method – Understand the steps that are crucial for maintaining the sterility of medical devices and ensuring patient safety during procedures. • Follow infection control guidelines when working in decontamination – Ability to clean and disinfect surgical instruments according to established health facility protocols. • Report potentially unsafe situations and malfunctioning equipment to supervisor – Understand that notifying the supervisor is necessary to prevent unsafe or unhealthful risks. • Initiate cleaning and restocking of all work areas and ordering supplies – Understand the complex task where numerous resources must be synchronized in order to achieve efficiency in cleaning, restocking and supply ordering. • Apply principles of aseptic technique, standard and transmission – Ability to maintain sterility throughout the surgical procedure by following proper cleaning and disinfecting protocols.
• Collaborate with other disciplines to ensure positive patient outcomes – Ability to work closely and cooperatively with peers while communicating effectively to produce positive outcomes. • Maintain a clean and safe environment – Understand the need to prevent healthcare-associated infections and ensure optimal patent care through regular cleaning, separation of clean and dirty areas, environmental cleaning and regulatory compliance. Updated December 2025
1.What is your general impression of the occupation-specific competencies? (i.e. the things someone would typically learn through on-the-job-training)
2.Are there any occupation-specific competencies you would like to see edited, added or eliminated?  Please write your suggestions if you have any.
3.Please share any suggested edits to the occupation-specific competency definitions.
4.What is your general impression of the industry-sector technical competencies? (i.e. what will typically be learned through formal related instruction to succeed in this specific occupation/ sector)
5.Are there any industry-sector technical competencies you would like to see edited, added or eliminated?  Please write your suggestions if you have any.
6.Please share any suggested edits to the industry-sector technical definitions.
7.What is your general impression of the industry-wide technical competencies (i.e. what will typically be learned through related instruction for a broad range of occupations working in the industry).
8.Are there any industry-wide technical competencies you would like to see edited, added or eliminated?  Please write your suggestions if you have any.
9.Finally, please let us know if you have any other suggested edits or comments on the remainder of the pyramid.
10.Please let us know what sector you work in.(Required.)
11.Contact information