5 Reminders Why Weight Scale Calibration Is Vital to Lab Integrity in Life Sciences

Accurate weighing of materials is fundamental to human history and essential across industries. In life sciences manufacturing environments, where precision directly impacts product quality and patient safety, weight scale calibration is absolutely critical for maintaining accuracy and reliability.

This information isn't unknown to life science laboratories and researchers – properly calibrated weighing tools are a regulatory requirement. However, manufacturing labs are busy environments, and ensuring facility scales and balances are regularly calibrated can be easily overlooked.

Manufacturing quality experts agree: It's easy to take for granted the accuracy and precision of everyday laboratory tools, such as analytical balances. Unfortunately, becoming complacent about the care and calibration of a scale can lead to poor outcomes and erroneous data being produced.

Let's examine the risks of neglecting analytical balance and scale calibration and explore strategies to streamline this process in life sciences manufacturing and lab facilities.

Why Is Balance Calibration Important? 5 Benefits of Good Calibration Practices

Sharpening your focus on balance calibration will improve your ability to:

1. Ensure the Accuracy of Results

When scales deviate from their true calibration, even by a small margin, they can significantly alter experiments' outcomes. This is particularly critical in life sciences manufacturing and lab environments where accurate measurements directly impact product quality and safety.

For instance, in pharmaceutical manufacturing, an incorrect dosage determination due to scale errors can lead to incorrect conclusions about a drug's efficacy or safety. Similarly, in chemical processes, slight deviations in compound measurements can result in entirely different reactions than expected. If an out-of-spec scale is used when preparing calibration curve standards, all resulting data generated will be inaccurate.

Maintaining scale accuracy is fundamental to ensuring the validity and reliability of laboratory measurements in regulated environments.

Download our Commercial Calibration Management data sheet to discover how MasterControl's cloud-based platform can help ensure precise calibration management and regulatory compliance for your organization.

2. Avoid Quality Control Failures

Inconsistent weight scale calibrations can lead to significant quality control failures. In the manufacture of pharmaceutical and biologic products, where ingredients must be measured with high precision, even minor discrepancies can have drastic effects.

For example, an uncalibrated scale might cause an incorrect amount of an active ingredient to be added to a medication, rendering it ineffective or potentially harmful. Such quality issues can damage a company's reputation and lead to costly recalls, regulatory actions, and legal challenges.

3. Reduce Operations and Materials Inefficiencies

Unreliable weight measurements due to poor calibration can lead to increased inefficiencies in both operations and material usage. Inaccurate measurements often result in the overuse or underuse of materials, leading to wastage and additional costs.

For instance, in pharmaceutical manufacturing, an uncalibrated scale might cause excess use of a costly reagent, unnecessarily increasing expenses. In a research setting, repeated experiments due to initial inaccuracies consume more time and resources, slowing down the research process and increasing operational costs.

Consider the reagent Palladium, used as a catalyst in chemical reactions that form carbon bonds. It's an expensive metal catalyst, and having to restart reactions due to inaccurate weight measurements will result in unwanted use of more Palladium catalyst.

These inefficiencies not only impact the budget but also hinder the overall productivity and effectiveness of the laboratory.

4. Manage Health and Safety Risks

Unreliable scales due to inadequate calibration pose significant health and safety risks in life sciences manufacturing. Inaccurate measurements can lead to dangerous chemical imbalances, increasing the likelihood of hazardous reactions or exposure to toxic substances.

For example, incorrect dosages of a drug due to scale errors could result in severe adverse effects on patients. Similarly, in chemical processing, miscalculations in reactive substance quantities might cause unexpected reactions, posing risks of explosions or toxic releases.

These scenarios not only endanger lab and manufacturing personnel but also compromise overall facility safety standards.

5. Avoid Credibility and Reputation Damages

The accuracy of a laboratory's data is paramount to its credibility. Scales that are not regularly calibrated can produce data that starts to drift. This can lead to false acceptance and/or false rejections of weight measurements, potentially damaging the lab's reputation.

In the commercial life sciences sector, companies relying on lab results for product development might face public backlash, regulatory scrutiny, and loss of consumer confidence if inaccuracies are discovered. Such damages to credibility and reputation can have long-lasting and far-reaching consequences, especially in highly regulated industries.

Regular calibration ensures that scales produce consistently accurate measurements, which is vital for life sciences manufacturing where even minor discrepancies can have significant consequences.

Ready to enhance your calibration management? Download the MasterControl Commercial Calibration Management data sheet to learn how our solution can streamline your calibration processes while ensuring regulatory compliance.

5 Tips for Keeping Weight Scales and Analytical Balances Calibrated

Maintaining the accuracy of your laboratory's scales and balances is crucial for ensuring the integrity of your data. Here are some practical tips to help keep your weighing equipment properly calibrated:

1. Regular Calibration Schedule

Establish a routine calibration schedule based on the intensity of use, the manufacturer's recommendations, and the calibration due date. Frequent use typically necessitates more regular calibration.

Creating a calibration schedule based on risk is a great way to determine if analytical balances need more frequent calibration than calibration due dates or the manufacturer's minimum requirements.

For example, keeping a log of the calibration weights and sending out for calibration when the balance starts to drift or produce out of tolerance readings, rather than relying solely on time-based schedules.

2. Use of Certified Calibration Weights

Always use a certified and traceable weighing scale calibration standard to ensure accuracy. These weights are designed to meet strict standards and provide reliable calibration results.

Proper handling and storage of these weights are essential. Mishandling can lead to wear and tear, which can affect their accuracy. Always use the tongs provided to handle the weights and keep them in an enclosed container, preferably the one they came in.

3. Professional Calibration Services

Regular calibrations from a professional calibration facility may be necessary to ensure compliance with certain regulations that your facility adheres to. Such services should be sourced to an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratory.

ISO/IEC 17025-accredited labs are required to follow quality and technical requirements that will lower the risk of false acceptance and false rejections of your scale's measurements during the calibration process.

An accredited lab performing an accredited calibration will provide a certificate of calibration that includes:
· A statement of conformity.
· The measurement data.
· The uncertainty values.

Additionally, regular professional calibrations can help ensure your scales are properly cleaned and repaired and identify potential issues with your instruments before they become problematic.

4. Training and Awareness

It's crucial for lab technicians to be aware of how to properly use the different scales in a lab facility and know how to check them for accuracy. Analytical balance measurements can be affected by lab temperature, lab pressure, static charges on the material, and even the technician breathing too close to the balance.

Some tips to help your teams understand and adhere to good measuring practices include:

· Ensure the responsible personnel know how to work each type of scale in your lab. For instance, measuring materials on a standard top-loading scale and a micro-analytical digital scale require different operation procedures.
· Educate technicians on the importance of checking a balance for accuracy and precision. Create checklists to help them comply.

5. Record Keeping and Monitoring

Keep detailed records of all calibration activities, including dates, results, and any maintenance performed—all of which can be facilitated by a purpose-built software system. Good records are vital to tracking the performance and reliability of your equipment over time.

Implementing a digital system will help you better manage the health, accuracy, and maintenance of your balances and other equipment assets. Be sure to choose a proven solution that:

· Is user-friendly.
· Integrates with existing digital systems.
· Is customizable to a lab's unique processes, compliance requirements, and data management workflows.
· Can automate notifications for upcoming calibration services or when a balance is out-of-tolerance.
· Automates measurement capture.

Streamline Analytical Scale Calibration With MasterControl

Managing the calibration of analytical scales and balances is a critical aspect of life sciences laboratories and manufacturing environments, directly impacting accuracy, safety, compliance, and credibility. With MasterControl's solutions, you can simplify and streamline this essential process.

MasterControl provides a comprehensive, cloud-based system that enables life sciences labs and manufacturers to keep every equipment asset in top working condition while meeting rigorous compliance requirements. Our calibration management solutions help ensure your laboratory maintains the highest standards of accuracy and data integrity.

Download the MasterControl Commercial Calibration Management data sheet today to explore how our metrology-focused platform with built-in uncertainty engine can help you deliver complex, standards-compliant calibrations while enhancing operational efficiency.

To learn more about how MasterControl can improve your asset calibration processes, contact us today.