Features

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought food supply into sharp focus – perhaps more so than any other time since World War 2. It has changed the way people are buying and consuming food, from initial mass panic buying, to consumers going directly to farm gates, or smaller outlets to avoid the crowds, to find a scarce product to purchase which will enable them to cook from scratch.

Jim Moseley – CEO Red Tractor takes a look at what we have learned about our country, our supply chains and ourselves since the lockdown.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) has been a hot topic during the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only with frontline healthcare specialists, but also with professionals in the testing industry who have been working tirelessly to enable certified PPE to be placed on the market. Nathan Shipley PPE Group Certification Manager at BSI explores how the business improvement company has been on the frontline with PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Microplastics are plastic fragments less than 5 mm in size1 and nanoplastics are fragments smaller than 1 µm. We take a look at a method called thermal desorption–gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy that can be used to identify microplastic and nanoplastic pollutants in the environment. The information obtained could also help to identify the source of the micro/nanoplastics and give information on their toxicity.

World Accreditation Day, which takes place annually on 9th June, has become an important fixture in the calendar to promote the value of accreditation, accredited conformity assessment and standards. This global initiative established by ILAC and IAF is celebrated in over 100 economies to promote and raise awareness of the value that accreditation delivers across different industries.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has resulted in Accreditation Bodies (ABs) needing to quickly adapt from their normal business models of on-site assessment to remote assessments. Following the revision of ISO/IEC 17011 in 2017, which opened up the potential for greater remote assessment, many ABs have been investigating how best to use remote assessment. The move to remote assessment had been gradual for most ABs, but the realities of the travel restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic mean that most ABs have had to rapidly adopt a remote assessment approach.

Gain greater insight, understand and address the major changes to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and how they will impact on your organisation?

Hear the answers from UKAS to some of the most commonly asked questions about ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Transition and how they affect your business.

Trescal Ltd. the international specialist in calibration services, are pleased to announce a partnership agreement with STAHLWILLE UK, the wholly owned UK subsidiary of STAHLWILLE Eduard Wille GmbH & Co. KG.

Part 1 – Document Management

Part 2 – Corrective and Preventative Actions (CAPA)

Part 3 – Competency Tracker and revisions to ISO 17025

Julian was appointed to the role of Government Chemist earlier this year taking over from Derek Craston. BMTA talk to him about the role of the Office of the Government Chemist and his views of the future.