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Compliance to ISO 17025
by WCDOA pubs
Provincial Veterinary Laboratory to undergo R23 million renovation
by Daniel Johnson
O“Once the renovations are completed, the Western Cape Provincial Veterinary Laboratory will provide an enhanced service to our clients,” said Western Cape Minister of Agriculture Dr Ivan Meyer during the recent handover of the building site to the contractor.
Minister Meyer said: “The Western Cape Provincial Veterinary Laboratory (PVL) provides a veterinary diagnostic and veterinary public health testing service. Our clients are located in all provinces. Nearly 60% of the samples received for testing originate from outside the Western Cape
Province. Testing activities focus on disease diagnosis, surveillance and monitoring.”
Minister Meyer continued: “Our main scope is testing for controlled and notifiable animal diseases as listed in the Animal Diseases Act. The national requirement for all laboratories testing for controlled and notifiable animal diseases is that the laboratory is ISO 17025 accredited and DALRRD approved.”
According to Francois Dreyer, Technical Manager for Veterinary Diagnostic Services, bovine brucellosis testing makes up 85% of the testing performed by the Laboratory.
Francois said: “During the renovation period, an accredited veterinary laboratory will perform free testing of bovine brucellosis samples for clients within the Western Cape. The Western Cape PVL will cover the costs. The value of the testing performed during the renovation is estimated at R2.2 million.”
Renovations are costed at R23 million, with completion due by November 2023.
The project will be done in three phases:
Phase 1 focuses primarily on the onsite establishment and many outer buildings.
Phase 2 will focus mainly on the laboratory areas.
Phase 3 will include the administrative and other office areas.
“It is envisioned that the PVL will be fully functional again as an ISO 17025 accredited laboratory by the end of November 2023,” concluded Minister Meyer. AP
For more information!
Learn more!
New edition of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 for laboratories carrying out calibration and testing activities was published in 2017. Three convenors of the revision working group tell us more about the importance of this International Standard. Scan the QR code or visit https://youtube.com/ watch?v=dH1Kf7gtrBw&feature=shares to watch the video: ‘Discover the new ISO/ IEC 17025:2017’. Published by ISO.
ISO/IEC 17025 enables laboratories to demonstrate that they operate competently and generate valid results, thereby promoting confidence in their work both nationally and around the world. Scan the QR code or visit www.iso.org/ISO-IEC17025-testing-and-calibration-laboratories.html
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