24 Jun 2020

Most of  the thermometers used around Botswana are not calibrated and may give unreliable temperature readings, says Lamworld Technologies managing director, Mr Obed Motsomi.

  “The temperature might be high while in actual fact it is not,” he told a media briefing in Gaborone June 23. 

Emphasising that calibration of any medical device was compulsory, Mr Motsomi pointed out that measurements made with uncalibrated instruments could result in various legal liability issues.

He encouraged Batswana to be vigilant about thermometres, saying calibrated ones should have a sticker bearing the calibration date.

  Users were advised to send thermometers for calibration in bulk as it was cheaper.

 Mr Motsomi that calibration reduced risks associated with measurements, regulatory requirements and international acceptability. Calibration, he said, was vital in any measurement as it gave users confidence in the results being monitored, recorded and subsequently controlled.   

 He also said calibration quantified and controlled errors or uncertainties within measurement processes to an acceptable level.

Mr Motsomi described calibration as the process of comparing a reading on one piece of equipment or system, with another calibrated piece of equipment and referenced to a known set of parameters.

The equipment used as a reference should itself be directly traceable to equipment that was calibrated according to ISO/IEC 17025, he said.

Its goal, he said, was to minimise measurement uncertainty by ensuring the accuracy of test equipment.ends