An integral part of quality assurance in the laboratory is proper care and maintenance of testing equipment. During the current global pandemic caused due to the spread of COVID-19 infection, most laboratories and manufacturing units were impacted by lockdown.
A well-maintained lab, where all equipment is taken care of ensures that data results are consistent and reliable. This in turn impacts the productivity and integrity of the work produced. Furthermore, since laboratory equipment generally involves a large investment, good maintenance of equipment contributes to cost-cutting measures, by lowering the chances of premature repurchases and replacement. In today’s times, when businesses world over are struggling to tackle the situation.
It is imperative to maintain lab equipment well; otherwise, they won’t give accurate results for experiments. Faulty equipment is not only bad for the research works but can pose risks to health and hygiene as well.
Here are four tips for maintaining lab equipment:
1. Keeping the Lab organized and sterile
Lab technicians are responsible for cleaning the equipment, organizing the lab and labeling all the equipment. It is important that they should properly sanitize all the lab supplies. This ensures that there’s no cross-contamination and that results of experiments are accurate.
The work stations should also be sanitized. Besides, wiping the exterior of all the lab equipment every day to remove dust, one must thoroughly clean the equipment every week. For cleaning special equipment, the cleaning instruction written on the manual should be followed.
2. Calibration
Your equipment needs to be calibrated regularly. If calibration is not done, the results won’t be accurate. Preventive maintenance is also necessary. You can also go for advanced accuracy verification to make sure that the equipment gives consistent and accurate results.
3. Repairs
The old adage ‘A stitch in time saves nine’ still holds true! Faulty equipment should be repaired without any delay, or else it may stop working suddenly and it will hamper your productivity. It’s thus, advisable that you should check your equipment regularly to ensure that they are in good working condition.
4. Replacements
Equipment that cannot be repaired, should be replaced. In case an equipment is very old, then you should replace it even if it doesn’t have any problem. You cannot rely on the results produced by the old equipment. Moreover, technological advancements and innovations have led to the development of more reliable & easy to operate testing equipment and machines.
Maintenance of quality & material
testing equipment is essential to make sure that all your laboratory is in good working order and all tests are done well in time, so that production and dispatch of products is uninterrupted. Thus, productivity of the manufacturing unit will be enhanced and more profit will be generated, even during the Corona crisis.
