QUALITY CONTROL OF BREATHING AIR & MEDICAL GASES
Health care
The quality of breathing air (compressed air) and medical gases is of great importance for the health and safety of your employees and patients. The purpose of monitoring and incidental measurements is to demonstrate and safeguard the quality of the gas in question.
Determined in quality
The government is aware of the need for controls on the quality of breathing air and gases. Various authorities are responsible for the legislation in this field. The European Pharmacopoeia, for instance, lays down stringent requirements for the quality of medical air, synthetic air, oxygen, laughing gas and others. These requirements apply to all care institutions in the countries of the European Union. In the Netherlands the Medical Public Health Inspectorate supervises compliance with the criteria and the quality assurance of breathing air and medical gases.
NEDLAB, competent and experienced
NEDLAB is the leading laboratory in the Netherlands in the field of quality and quality control of breathing air and medical gases. This applies, for example, to the measurement of the quality of the breathing air produced by a compressor - old or new - and delivered to a point of delivery at patient level, the IC unit in the hospital or the surgery room in the outpatients’ department.
NEDLAB’s skilled, experienced field technicians and analysts have a comprehensive range of mobile measuring equipment and a well-equipped laboratory at their disposal. The measurements, tests and analyses carried out meet all the applicable standards. NEDLAB is therefore an excellent partner for checking and monitoring the quality of the air and gases (such as oxygen, laughing gas, nitrogen, CO2, etc.) that you use.
Guaranteeing quality
NEDLAB is continually improving the quality of its services. After all, quality has everything to do with safety: ours, yours and that of your employees and customers as well. NEDLAB observes two standards in its quality assurance:
- ISO 9001
- NEN-EN-ISO/IEC 17025 (see registration number RvA L356 www.rva.nl the focus being on the measurement and testing
of medical gases in accordance with the European Pharmacopoeia)
The validation of measuring equipment and analytical methods is, of course, an element of our quality assurance.
Internal and external auditors monitor all our activities and, if they wish to do so, our customers are welcome to carry out an audit. For validation, checks and calibration of methods and measuring equipment, NEDLAB uses only certified standards, such as ISO 17025 ’Accredited gas mixtures’ (by the Van Swinden Laboratorium, for instance).
Measurements in hospitals, clinics and surgeries
When should breathing air and gases be checked? The answer to this question is rather complex and depends on various circumstances. Frequent measuring or monitoring is required at the source and/or compressor, at critical locations such as operating theatres, post-op recovery rooms, IC units, neonatology wards and in pharmacies. Monitoring is also important at delivery points located in remote areas which are seldom, if ever, used. Incidental measurements are required in the case of expansion activities on mains systems and the commissioning of new installations such as compressors or storage tanks, and new buildings necessitate incidental measurements, too.
On site and in the lab
On-site measurements on breathing air and gases are, of course, carried out by experienced NEDLAB employees. They also take gas samples for comprehensive analysis in NEDLAB’s laboratory. Besides expertise in the field of breathing air and medical gases, NEDLAB also has broad experience in testing for contaminants, measuring levels of ingredients and analysing the composition of raw materials, semi-manufactures and end products.
24/7
NEDLAB’s employees are at your service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the event of an emergency or other urgent need, please call +31 (0)187-47 84 44. Our employees will do their utmost to respond as quickly as possible.