Artel has awarded certificates of proficiency to all attendees of its latest Pipette Quality Management Certification Seminar, held 16-17 October in Portland, Maine, US.
The seminar is designed to help laboratory professionals improve internal pipette quality assurance and management processes to minimise error, enhance efficiency, and ensure compliance.
Attendees included scientists, quality specialists, research assistants, technicians, supervisors, and managers from clinical, pharmaceutical and hospital laboratories.
Pipetting is one of the most common laboratory tasks and one of the greatest sources of laboratory error.
At this two-day technical seminar, attendees received guidance from Artel on the numerous pipetting variables that affect data integrity, from calibration frequency to appropriate tolerance limits and optimal pipetting technique.
Due to the continually evolving regulatory landscape, a focal point of Artel's seminar was compliance.
Discussion revolved around regulations and standards relevant to laboratory liquid handling such as CLIA/CAP and GMP/GLP regulations, and ISO 17025 accreditation.
Artel also presented case studies to demonstrate best practices in pipette quality assurance.
'Laboratory professionals must stay abreast of quality control for a wide range of laboratory equipment,' said Wendy Vaccaro, technical services manager, Artel.
'Artel specialises in liquid handling quality assurance and we have extensive knowledge of pipetting.
'Through our Pipette Quality Management Certification Seminar, we share this expertise with attendees to help them optimise internal quality processes and take control of their pipette populations.' The seminar included a session on mitigating operator variability by standardising pipetting technique using single-channel and multichannel pipettes.
Attendees were trained using the Artel Method, which includes a pre-skills assessment of pipetting technique, education about the impact of poor pipetting skills on laboratory results, hands-on technique coaching with immediate feedback, and a post-training skills assessment.
The Artel Method also includes instruction on how pipettes fail, pipette repair and maintenance, and reducing injuries with ergonomic pipetting.
Proficiency certificates were awarded to attendees who passed a written practical exam on topics covered during the seminar.
Participants were required to demonstrate proper pipetting technique as measured using the Artel Pipette Calibration System (PCS) and Multichannel Verification System (MVS).
Providing immediate, traceable measurement of volume accuracy and precision, these systems facilitate hands-on training and supply documentation of competence.
After the ARTEL training, attendees improved their average precision using single-channel pipettes from 1.85 to 0.15 per cent CV and from 3.00 to 0.66 per cent CV using multichannel pipettes.
Artel offers training seminars, including Pipette Quality Management Certification and Pipetting Proficiency Certification, at customer sites as well as at regional locations.
