Calibration of Glassware - Pipettes & Flask

[Montse]

Hello:
In our last audit of QS 9000, one of the observations were that we need to count on with records of calibration for the pipettes and flask that we use in the laboratory.
I need to recognize that I have not any idea about this request of the 4.11 .
We can not calibrate the plastic instruments labs. Therefore as a corrective action we start to record in a log book the number of serie of the instruments and to solicit that the calibration department record this number in the software system. After one year, the pipettes will need to be replace for a news as our procedure calibration document solicit.

I will appreciate if somebody have had a similar experience with regar to this kind of lab instruments and to know their inputs.

 

[Marc]

There are many glass items which you can have calibrated yet sometimes it's cheaper to replace them. If you are doing this, that is OK. Since you're identifying them in your calibration database, that fills the requirement. You might be able to get away with a 2 year calibration frequency on glassware like pipettes.

 

[Ryan Wilde]

State bureaus of weights and measures do the lion's share of volumetric calibrations in the U.S. Many of these state labs actually do these services for free.

Note: Buying new glassware may only be a band-aid fix. The certificate of conformance provided with new items is not a calibration. Ask yourself this, "What, exactly, does it conform to?" If you contact your glassware vendor and inquire about calibration with actual data, traceable to National Standards, the price will go up substantially. A savvy auditor with any experience in calibration will know this, and you will be back to square one.

Ryan Wilde