The news is full of doom and gloom and there’s a lot of uncertainty about the future. People are clearly wanting control and going into survival mode, as the “toilet paper wars” visibly demonstrate. But, did you know, you have within your grasp a tool kit to help see you through these difficult times if …read more »
Breaking news! The Guardian says “The only uncertainty is how long we’ll last”. Clearly they have not heard about the MAS MU for Testing Labs workshop. Register now as places are filling fast!
The laboratory shall, if relevant, to the extent necessary, maintain records of competence to read standards. Understood? Deciphering these kinds of phrases in standards is not easy. Learning to read and understand them is like learning a new language. But once you get the hang of it, a whole new world of interpretation opens up. …read more »
Are your laboratory’s problems prone to re-surface over and over again? Are you spending most of your valuable time and resources tackling a recurring problem in preparation for an audit? While you may be convinced that your answers are ‘THE’ solutions to the problems identified in your lab, perhaps it’s time you took a closer …read more »
So you’re facing a NATA audit and it’s being done to the new 17025. You’ve probably read various bits and pieces online that have given you an idea about the significant changes. A 9001-friendly structure, new emphasis on impartiality, confidentiality and customer complaints, decision rules, and a lot of stuff about risk management. A few …read more »
ISO 17025:2017. You can see it looming ahead of you. You vaguely know that there’s some change you have to grapple with. Or you might have already been through an assessment to the new standard. The question is, how do you conquer the NATA ISO 17025:2017 beast? You know, the Titanic hit the iceberg not …read more »
When you have done hundreds of NATA audits, you get to know what the issues are that get laboratories stuck. One question a NATA auditor asks is, what evidence do you have that your staff are competent? Here are some helpful tips for how to respond! The scenario: You have just hired someone with …read more »
In my last article, I talked about how you can take steps to simplify your management system. But as a true systems expert, I like to deal with the root cause of a complex problem. The other cause of the creation of a management system is a failure to critically analyse feedback from auditors and …read more »
Many organisations have a quality (or environment, or safety) management system. If you’re in one of these organisations, then I bet you’ve sometimes felt like the “system” rules your life, rather than you ruling the system. How did it get to be this way? More importantly, how can you change this? It probably got to …read more »
The progress with updating ISO 17025 has taken a big step forward with the release of a draft for comment. NATA has made the draft document available for comment. The proposed revisions incorporate the requirements of ISO 9001:2015. This takes a risk management approach to management systems. It also calls for a review and analysis …read more »