Repurchases of Common Shares	9 Months Ended
Repurchases of Common Shares	Dec. 31, 2011
Notes To Financial Statements [Abstract]
Schedule of Treasury Stock by Class [Text Block]	Repurchases of Common Shares During the first nine months of fiscal 2012, we repurchased 1,851,510 of our common shares for an aggregate amount of $55,942, representing an average price of $30.21 per common share. We also obtained 22,927 of our common shares during the first nine months of fiscal 2012 in connection with stock based compensation award programs. At December 31, 2011, $118,460 of STERIS common shares remained authorized for repurchase pursuant to a March 2008 Board Authorization. Also, 12,400,503 common shares were held in treasury at December 31, 2011.

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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