written by Maree Stuart As we head into the silly season we are delighted to present: The MAS Management Systems 12 Days of a Lab Christmas! On the twelfth day of Christmas we had a NATA assessment For many lab folk, the prospect of a NATA assessment is the stuff of nightmares. If you’re a little …read more »
written by Maree Stuart As we head into the silly season, we’re delighted to present: The MAS Management Systems 12 Days of a Lab Christmas! On the second day of Christmas, our server went down! These days, most information and data are stored electronically. Apart from saving the planet, maintaining information in an digital format can …read more »
written by Maree Stuart Have you heard that in New Zealand, they’re legislating for laws to ensure that bureaucrats use plain language? You’re probably thinking, that would be nice, but how does it relate to me? Have you read an ISO standard or NATA accreditation document recently??? Apart from those ISO and NATA documents, we see …read more »
Every day we need to communicate. And whether it’s grunts from teenagers or the long, winding conversations we have with old friends, we also need to interpret what’s being said. Effective communication in the workplace is critical. Management is often judged by the quality of communications with the rest of the organisation. Teams judge their …read more »
Imagine having all the documents you deal with in a week piled on your desk. If you were to include print outs of your work and personal emails the pile would probably be too high to see over! Clearly, you’re not going to do this (no time, waste of trees) but thinking about that pile …read more »
Those gurus that promise your lab will obtain accreditation (or re-accreditation) in seven days or less are like those recipes that tell you caramelised onions will only take five minutes. It just isn’t going to happen. We’ve certainly assisted clients to obtain accreditation quickly. This meant that with a lot of work, focus and effort, …read more »
During March, we took part in the Future Labs Conference. As well as the excitement (and strangeness!) of being back in a face-to-face conference setting, we heard insights from speakers on how their labs are preparing for the future. One such speaker was Dr Shabnam Tarahi Tabrizi, Lab Manager at Nanosonics. She was instrumental in …read more »
At MAS, we’ve been part of and carried out hundreds of NATA assessments. It doesn’t take long before you start to see a pattern. You begin to see the same issues emerging and learn just where a lab is going to come unstuck. Labs know that preparing for their assessment is critical. But labs are …read more »
Happy New Year!! While a new financial year probably won’t see you popping champagne and singing Auld Lang Syne (unless you moonlight as an Accountant) it’s still an important time of year. For those very organised folks who regularly scan and file their receipts and make notes about expenses, end of financial year tax returns …read more »
We’ve all heard the expression knowledge is power. In the hands of cybercriminals, knowledge is also big business. In a lab setting, it’s understood that keeping information safe and secure is in the best interests of clients and your business. If you hold accreditation or certification, it’s also a requirement of the standard. ISO standards …read more »
Anyone who has ever been involved in quality or project management would have heard the names Deming, Juran and Crosby. Their contributions have had long lasting ramifications and made us all think differently about what quality is, what it means and how to achieve it. Over the coming months, we’ll be running a series of …read more »
In our previous article we looked at documents and in particular, what makes good ones. Good documentation forms the essential guidelines for operations in your lab. But your documentation system isn’t just a ‘set and forget’. They require reviewing, updating and managing to ensure they’re accurate, up-to-date, and available. And that’s where a document control …read more »
No matter what your area of expertise, all scientists and engineers know the importance of documentation. Lab documents allow you to review your activities. They help you to train your staff. Excellent documentation provides proof of accurate, reliable testing not just to clients but also to external accreditation or audit bodies. In fact, the management …read more »
You are an expert in your lab. You know your procedures and can carry these out with your eyes closed (although from a safety perspective we hope this isn’t happening!). Once you’ve carried out your activity, you can put that information into your data collection device and that spits out your lab report. Or perhaps …read more »