Objective To explore the effect of quality control circle (QCC) on improving the removal rate of contaminants on object surface in the operating room and reducing the incidence of surgical site infection (SSI). Methods The QCC management mode was applied to supervise and manage the cleaning and disinfection quality of object surface in the operating room. The period of pre-improvement was from October to November 2020, and that of post-improvement was from December 2020 to March 2021, and monitoring continued until September 2021. Fluorescence labeling and microbiological culture were adopted to identify the causes for low removal rate of contaminants on object surface in the operating room. Through 3 strategies including improving equipments, refining procedural protocols, and enhancing training methods, differences in the removal rate of contaminants on object surface in the operating room as well as the incidence of SSI before and after the improvement were compared. Results The removal rate of contaminants on object surface in the operating room increased from 52.26% before improvement to 88.02% after improvement. The passing rate of staff's knowledge assessment increased from 46.82% to 90.29%. Incidence of SSI decreased from 0.18% to 0.07%. Differences were all statistically significant (all P < 0.05). From April to September 2021, incidence of SSI was 0.06%, removal rates of contaminants on object surface in the ope-rating room were 89.24%, 90.80%, 91.67%, 92.53%, 93.40%, and 94.10%, respectively, maintaining a good improvement trend. Conclusion The application of QCC for continuous quality improvement can effectively improve the removal rate of contaminants on object surface in the operating room and the passing rate of environmental clea-ning and disinfection knowledge among staff with different occupations. Ensuring the cleaning quality of the operating room can help reducing the incidence of SSI, meanwhile, the abilities of QCC members are improved, making it a valuable approach for widespread application.