Repurchases of Common Shares	3 Months Ended
Repurchases of Common Shares	Jun. 30, 2012
Notes To Financial Statements [Abstract]
Schedule of Treasury Stock by Class [Text Block]	Repurchases of Common Shares During the first quarter of fiscal 2013, we obtained 42,151 of our common shares in connection with stock based compensation award programs. At June 30, 2012, $118,460 of STERIS common shares remained authorized for repurchase pursuant to the most recent Board approved repurchase authorization (the March 2008 Board Authorization). Also, 11,957,838 common shares were held in treasury at June 30, 2012.

Tabular disclosure of an entity's treasury stock, including the average cost per share, carrying basis for each class of treasury stock, description of share repurchase program authorized by an entity's board of directors, the number of shares repurchased, the cost of the shares repurchased, the remaining maximum dollar value of shares available for repurchase under the program, the treatment of the purchase price in excess of the current market value, number of shares held for each class of treasury stock, and other information necessary to a fair presentation.

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