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Infection Control and Printer Hygiene in Clinical Areas
Printers in clinical areas are touched by many hands and need cleaning like any other surface. Here is how to choose, site and clean devices so they support infection control rather than working against it.
A printer in a clinical area is a shared surface touched by many hands throughout the day, yet it is often left out of cleaning and infection control routines. In a healthcare setting that is a real gap. The device is handled between patients, sits near clean and dirty zones and can become a point of cross contamination if it is not chosen, placed and cleaned with a little thought.
This guide sets out how printer hygiene fits infection control in clinics and other clinical areas, from choosing devices that tolerate regular cleaning to siting them sensibly and reducing how often they are touched at all. It is short and practical, aimed at infection control and clinical leads who want print to support good hygiene rather than undermine it.
Why printers belong in infection control
Two simple facts make printers an infection control concern. They are high touch, handled by staff constantly and they are often in exactly the wrong place, wedged between a clinical zone and a clean one. If a device cannot be wiped down with the products a clinical setting uses or if it sits where it should not, it quietly works against the hygiene everyone else is maintaining.
Choose, site and clean
Good printer hygiene comes down to three practical decisions and managed print helps with all of them.
| Decision | What good looks like | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Device choice | Smooth surfaces that tolerate cleaning | Can be wiped down without damage |
| Placement | Away from direct clinical contact zones | Reduces cross contamination risk |
| Cleaning | Included in routine cleaning schedules | Keeps a high touch surface hygienic |
| Touch reduction | Card release and fewer shared devices | Fewer hands on each machine |
How print choices support infection control, August 2026.
Choosing devices with wipe clean surfaces and siting them thoughtfully is straightforward once print is treated as part of the clinical environment rather than an afterthought. A managed provider can advise on both when the fleet is designed.
Reducing how often devices are touched
The most elegant infection control measure for print is simply to reduce how often a device is handled. Secure release means staff collect several jobs in one visit rather than making repeated trips and right sizing the fleet onto fewer, well placed devices reduces the number of shared surfaces overall. Less handling means less cleaning and less risk.
How print supports infection control
Relative contribution of each measure. Illustrative.
Print that supports your infection control, not against it
We help clinical settings choose wipe clean devices, site them sensibly and reduce how often they are touched, so print supports infection control. Local engineers, sensible fleet design and a free print audit to plan it around your clinical areas.
- Wipe clean. Devices chosen to tolerate regular cleaning.
- Well placed. Siting that respects clean and clinical zones.
- Fewer touches. Card release and fewer shared devices.
- Advised. Guidance on hygiene when the fleet is designed.
Fitting print into cleaning routines
A device that is easy to clean is far more likely to actually be cleaned. Choosing machines with smooth wipe clean surfaces, then including them in the standard cleaning schedule, closes the gap that so often exists around shared printers. It costs nothing extra and removes a quiet risk.
Less kit, cleaner clinics
Right sizing the fleet has a hygiene benefit as well as a cost one. Fewer, better placed shared devices means fewer high touch surfaces to keep clean, which is easier to manage and lower risk. It is a good example of a change that helps infection control, cost and sustainability all at once.
Designing hygiene in from the start
The simplest time to get printer hygiene right is when the fleet is designed, choosing the right devices and the right places before habits form. A free print audit includes exactly that kind of practical advice for clinical areas.
For the full healthcare picture, Complete Guide to Managed Print for Healthcare brings hygiene, safety and reliability together in one place.
Printer hygiene in clinics, common questions
Do printers really need to be part of infection control?
Yes. A shared printer in a clinical area is a high touch surface handled by staff all day, so it should be cleaned like any other surface and sited away from direct clinical contact zones. Left out of routines it can become a point of cross contamination.
What makes a printer easy to keep clean?
Smooth, wipe clean surfaces that tolerate the cleaning products a clinical setting uses. Choosing devices with that in mind and including them in the standard cleaning schedule, keeps a high touch surface hygienic without damaging the machine.
How can we reduce contamination risk from shared devices?
Reduce how often each device is touched. Secure release lets staff collect several jobs in one visit and right sizing onto fewer, well placed devices cuts the number of shared surfaces overall, so there is less handling and less to clean.
Can you advise on device placement in clinical areas?
Yes. When we design the fleet we advise on choosing wipe clean devices and siting them sensibly, away from direct clinical contact zones, so print supports infection control from the start rather than being retrofitted later.
Healthcare Print Guidance
This article is one guide in our full Healthcare Print Guidance library, covering hygiene, safety, reliability and print for every kind of healthcare setting.
Browse the full hubEvery article in the Healthcare Print Guidance collection is written for UK healthcare teams, so you can jump straight to the topic that fits your clinical areas.
Printer hygiene is a small, practical part of infection control that is easy to get right and easy to overlook. Choose wipe clean devices, site them sensibly, include them in cleaning routines and reduce how often they are touched and print quietly supports the hygiene everyone else is maintaining. If you would like help designing that in, our Managed Print Services for Healthcare service page sets out how we run a free print audit, a fleet design and an install for healthcare settings across the UK.