How to Ensure Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) in your Lab

The importance of reliability, regulatory compliance, and accurate results in any laboratory means that rigorous Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) is essential.

At Astech, we understand how vital QA/QC is for optimal lab performance. In this blog, we look into some strategies that your lab can adopt to strengthen your quality assurance and control framework.

The Importance of QA

Quality Assurance prevents defects through the creation and maintenance of a system for quality. QA is about building quality into the process, whereas QC is about detecting any defects using testing and inspection on the final product. Both are critical and should be used together in order to ensure:

Data integrity
Reliability
That regulatory requirements (e.g. ISO 17025) are met
Efficiency
Reduction of errors
Reducing product recalls and the cost associated with them

How to Achieve Effective QA/QC

We’ve outlined some suggestions of strategies to ensure your quality assurance and control is effective:

Create robust Quality Management System (QMS)

A QMS should involve standard operating procedures (SOPs) that provide clear instructions for all processes within the lab, document control, training, internal auditing, and Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA) to address and prevent non-conformance with the system.

Maintain and calibrate equipment on a regular basis

Reliable equipment is crucial for precise data. Creating a schedule for calibrating and maintaining the equipment will ensure that there is always optimal performance in the lab. This should include calibration records, routine checks, and preventative maintenance.

Data integrity and traceability

It’s essential to implement a system of record keeping, secure data storage, data backup, and software and systems to help you maintain data integrity and traceability.

At Astech, we specialise in lab automation systems which can help you to reduce human error and improve these processes.

Create a culture of Quality

Rather than an afterthought, the culture of quality assessment and control should be embedded within the lab’s culture. Some of the ways this can be achieved is to encourage open communication among staff about continuous improvement, and committing to processes at all levels.

How we can help

We provide innovative lab solutions that can enhance your QA/QC processes. Our products can help you to:

Automate repetitive tasks, freeing up lab workers’ time for more complex tasks
Improve data traceability
Streamline your workflows
Increase efficiency

Contact our expert team today, to help you implement and optimise your QA/QC systems to make sure your lab operates at the highest potential.