A guest post from Karen Moore, originally posted on LinkedIn August 2018. The ISO 17025:2017 has a bigger emphasis on impartiality and managing conflicts of interest. How do you plan to address these issues in a way that you can discuss with NATA? If you’re like most lab managers, this is a difficult subject to talk about,… read more »
NATA Accreditation.
Behind the scenes: how our clients make the world a safer place
With World Accreditation Day highlighting the theme of safety this year, we want to celebrate the incredible work our clients are doing behind the scenes. From ensuring the reliability of rail infrastructure to safeguarding food production, these businesses remind us what accreditation is all about. As an accreditation specialist, it’s no surprise that I have… read more »
AS/NZS ISO 17025:2018 is here! Now what?
SAI Global has just released the 2018 version of AS/NZS ISO 17025 the updated laboratory accreditation standard, and NATA has finally explained how they will approach the implementation. So it’s time to start thinking about how you will approach the changes. What you need to know. (No time? Jump straight to our five steps to… read more »
Bullet-proof your laboratory accreditation
Keeping your laboratory accreditation (& business) safe Good laboratory quality systems do more than just cover the things that NATA expects to see. They also support the laboratory management to make the right decisions. Whether you have laboratory accreditation, GLP or ISO 9001 certification, consider these key practices, which well-run organisations use to… read more »
How Safe is Your NATA Accreditation?
Danger ahead: warning signs for NATA Accredited Labs When a lab has their NATA accreditation suspended, it usually comes as a huge shock. But there are warning signs for poor assessment outcomes. You can determine whether there are issues that you should address before NATA arrives. These are some of the red flags noticable in… read more »
Are you wasting time & money on NATA requirements?
The assessment is over, you have ushered the audit team out the door and you already know how you’re going to fix most of those niggly things they brought up. The assessment team were really helpful and you know it’s going to feel great to get all of these NATA requirements ticked off. You’re not… read more »
The easiest internal audit program ever
I recently discovered there’s a way to do internal audits that takes (almost) no time at all. I got an invitation to a webinar Freshening Up Your Internal Audit Program featuring a dude who has been around the ISO 9001 certification scene for many decades. (Aha! I thought. I’m finally going to learn the secret… read more »
10 Tips to Avoid NATA Paper Warfare
Some lab / quality managers enjoy corresponding with NATA and arguing the point with them. But most of us don’t. Other labs inadvertently get caught up in three, four or even more rounds of correspondence with NATA following an assessment. It can be frustrating and time consuming. You seem to be talking at cross purposes… read more »
Are internal auditors better than managers?
Internal auditors can be better at identifying process improvements than most managers – let me tell you why. What a manager may never see There are things that internal auditors see that a manager would never have known about if not for the audit program. These can include: tests failing and needing to be repeated;… read more »
Supervision or Teamwork?
NPAAC has produced four revisions of the Requirements for the Supervision of Pathology Laboratories document in the past 6 years. Each of these drafts has been met with dismay by any pathology laboratory wanting to determine their most effective organisation structure and to foster a culture of teamwork, continual improvement and learning amongst all of… read more »