Sector — analytical
Testing for Analytical & Contract Laboratories
Your clients audit you, and your accreditation depends on records that hold up. Certification with measured values, dates and asset references — not a sticker.
Why analytical labs are different
You are audited by people who read the certificate properly
In most sectors a test certificate is filed and never examined closely. In a contract laboratory it is read — by an accreditation assessor, and by clients running supplier audits before they place work with you. A certificate that says only “pass” invites the next question.
So we record what was measured: face velocity readings at defined positions, containment results, alarm and monitor calibration, dates, engineer, and the unit’s asset reference. That is more useful to you when someone asks how you know your controls work.
The other constraint is throughput. Instrument time is billable and a cupboard out of use is capacity lost, so visits are planned tightly and the department keeps running.
One technical warning worth stating plainly: acid digestions and evaporating solvents to dryness generate more contaminant than activated carbon can hold. Those applications need a ducted cupboard, and if you are running them in a recirculating unit we will tell you so.
Measured values recorded
Readings and positions, not a pass or fail verdict, so the record answers an assessor’s questions.
Asset-referenced trail
Every certificate tied to a unit and a room, with the calibration history behind it.
Planned to protect throughput
Tight visit windows, one unit at a time, so billable capacity is not lost.
Honest on ducted vs ductless
Acid digestion and solvent evaporation need ducted extract. We will say so rather than sell you filters.
What we do
Services for analytical laboratories
Compliance
The statutory duty, and the one your accreditation adds
COSHH Regulation 9 requires engineering controls to be examined and tested at intervals of no more than 14 months and maintained in efficient working order. That is the legal floor and it applies to you as it does to everyone.
Accreditation adds a documentation burden on top: evidence that equipment is fit for purpose, maintained on a defined schedule, and that the records are traceable. We are not your accreditation body and will not claim to certify you — what we provide is the underlying evidence, in a form an assessor can follow.
Testing is to BS EN 14175, with HSG258 and BS 7989 applied to LEV and extract systems.
Analytical FAQs
More on our full FAQ page.
We provide measured readings, positions, dates, engineer and asset references, which is the evidence an assessor asks to see. Whether your overall arrangements satisfy your scope is a matter for you and your assessor — tell us what they expect to see and we will make sure our records cover it.
Generally not, and it is worth reviewing urgently. Activated carbon is not suitable where large quantities of contaminant are generated, and acid digestion is one of the standard examples. The same applies to evaporating solvents to dryness. Those applications belong in a ducted cupboard.
Yes, and it is the arrangement we would recommend. One contract, one interval, everything falling due together, so there is no unit quietly running past 14 months when an audit lands.
Put your whole lab on one schedule
Free site surveys. Talk to an engineer rather than a call centre.