01 Jul 2020

Botswana Bureau of Standards (BOBS) has announced quality management standards for alcohol-based hand sanitisers and calibration services for all equipment to be used during COVID-19 pandemic.

Government has engaged BOBS to facilitate provision of assistance to Ministry of Health and Wellness (MoHW) with calibration services for test kits and other related equipment to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, BOBS Marketing and Communications Manager, Mr Peter Mpete said when briefing the press. 

Mr Mpete mentioned that the standard for alcohol-based hand sanitizer had been availed to Batswana, particularly SMEs for free, whereas big companies would be expected to acquire the standard at a fee. 

In addition, he said that BOBS had introduced free testing services to determine whether the said sanitisers conformed to the standard requirements. 

In his address, Laboratory Services and Industrial Metrology manager at BOBS, Mr Tebogo Kajane said one of the organisation’s efforts was to ensure quality management through provision of calibration services for all instruments used mainly during COVID-19 pandemic. 

Mr Kajane confirmed that BOBS had responded accordingly by calibrating equipment used at National Health Laboratory (NHL) for COVID-19 testing.

“Calibration of such equipment was vital in ensuring that NHL achieved accreditation by World Health Organization (WHO) as per WHO set requirements and equally important to ensure that equipment was accurate and reliable to produce quality results. For instance, Bio-Safety Cabinets has to be validated to ensure safety of laboratory personnel as per WHO requirements and guidelines,” Kajane highlighted. 

Moreover, he said BOBS had been actively engaged in calibrating equipment used in the food manufacturing industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He reiterated that, “In the food production line for instance there is equipment used for testing purity of end products or measuring the quantities to be used based on certain specifications or standards. Therefore we ensure and enforce compliance.” Ends