With 17 autonomous communities and inspectors who can visit without notice, having sterilization records that are instantly searchable and impossible to lose is not a luxury — it is a necessity. A digital register gives you traceability that a paper logbook cannot match.
In Spain, sterilization traceability is required across all regulated professions, but the specific requirements vary by autonomous community. Dental practices must maintain sterilization records under Real Decreto 1594/1994 and the healthcare center registration requirements of their community. Tattoo and piercing studios must keep equipment records for a minimum of 24 months (longer in some communities) under the applicable regional decree. Podiatry clinics, registered as centros sanitarios (healthcare centers), must maintain full sterilization traceability as part of their healthcare facility obligations.
The format is generally not prescribed: paper or digital, both are accepted. But the register must be complete, legible, and accessible during an inspection by the Consejería de Sanidad (regional health authority). For full details on regulatory requirements, see the sterilization regulations guide.
Missing or torn pages. Illegible handwriting. Forgetting to fill it in after a rushed cycle. Inability to search quickly (finding a cycle from 2 years ago). No backup in case of fire, flooding, or theft. Bulky physical storage over multiple years. No automatic link between the autoclave printout and the traceability record. When an inspector from the Consejería de Sanidad asks for a specific cycle, the professional must flip through binders -- a process that wastes inspection time and creates a negative impression.
Automatic import of the autoclave report (PDF or machine file). Traceability records generated in seconds. Instant search by date, cycle number, or instrument. Digital archives accessible on tablet, phone, or computer. Automatic backup -- no risk of loss. Printable traceability labels with QR codes linking each pouch to its cycle.
During an inspection, hand your tablet to the inspector: every record, every report, every biological control is accessible in seconds. No more binders to leaf through.
Spain's 17 autonomous communities each enforce their own inspection criteria. A tattoo artist who works at conventions in Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia is subject to three different regulatory frameworks -- Decreto 35/2005 (Madrid), Decreto 90/2008 (Catalonia), and the corresponding Valencian Community decree. Paper records locked in a studio drawer are useless at a convention in another community. A digital register travels with the practitioner.
For dental professionals and podiatrists who may operate across community borders (satellite clinics, locum work), digital traceability ensures records are accessible wherever they are needed. As regional inspections become more rigorous and communities tighten enforcement, the ability to produce complete, searchable records instantly is becoming a practical necessity rather than a convenience.
Many practitioners believe the USB stick or SD card from their autoclave constitutes adequate traceability. It does not. The USB stick contains only cycle parameters (temperature, pressure, duration, result). Complete traceability requires the link between the instruments processed, the autoclave cycle, and -- for healthcare professionals -- the patient. Only a structured register (detailed paper or dedicated software) can establish this link.
SecuSteri imports the autoclave report, links each instrument to its cycle, and allows the operator to sign the record with their PIN code. The complete traceability chain -- from autoclave parameters to instrument identification to operator responsibility -- is established automatically.
Automatic autoclave report import, instrument-patient traceability, QR labels, digital archives accessible on any device. 30-day free trial.