The best step forward

We spoke to Hayley Avery, managing director of STS Group Australia, about how the company can assist ADAWA members.

STS Group Australia (also known as STS Health and Mocom Australia) has been a name synonymous with infection control since 1992. What started out as a service-only company (operating out of the founder’s garage), has grown to a trusted name that imports and distributes a range of infection control equipment into Australia
and New Zealand.

Well known for selling and supporting the trusted equipment range Mocom, STS Group Australia sells and services benchtop sterilisers, washer disinfectors and provides a range of consumables and accessories.

“We are niche in the equipment and service support market, in that we work only within infection control,” explains STS Group Australia managing director, Hayley Avery. “In the dental space, we are exclusive with Henry Schein. Our servicing division called STS Health has a team of dedicated infection control technicians based in Perth, and we travel around to private and government practices servicing, repairing and carrying out the required validation on all this equipment.”

Partnering with ADAWA

Hayley says the company prides itself on knowing and understanding the relevant Australian Standards and guidelines. They provide seminars and training to service technicians throughout Australia and New Zealand and continue to support infection control consultants and other ADA state branches.

“As Mocom Australia, we are an industry leader in championing infection control standards and making sure that we, and the service agents supporting our equipment, all work to the same high standard.

“With the recent release of the ADA’s 5th Edition Infection Control Guidelines and the publication of AS5369 in late 2023, we’ve had a lot of questions from the dental community, which is why we started this relationship with ADAWA. We have been working with members, consultants and with ADAWA’s Infection Control Committee to
clarify and support where we have been able to with these recent changes.

“For years we have been delivering support to technicians and consultants, and we’ve realised we also have so much to offer for ADAWA members – the users of these products.

“We are dedicated to raising the health standards in the community and we feel that partnering with ADAWA is the best step forward to achieve that,” Hayley, who is also the WA President of the Australian Dental Industry Association and was recently elected to the ADIA board, says.

Hayley and Mocom Australia’s Steve Lines attended Kylie Robb’s Infection Prevention and Control lectures in Perth and Albany in August, where they were able to answer attendee questions and showed their range of sterilisers, washer disinfectors and new handpiece cleaner and disinfector.

Hayley adds manufacturing is beginning for their own range of infection control consumables, called STS Professional, which will include testing devices, sterilisation pouches and more. Watch this space!

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Hayley’s top tips when purchasing infection control products

• They should ensure the product is registered with the TGA.
• Sterilisers should also be registered with Work Safe.
• Ensure there is adequate support for when things go wrong in their area. You might feel like you are getting a good deal, but if there is no one to service the product or support it as they do not travel to where you are located, that can cause some issues and can get expensive.
• Get recommendations from trusted colleagues.

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