Rationale and SANG Membership
Analytical results are used to make process modifications, to pass
/ fail manufactured products, defend against legal action and prove
compliance with ever-stricter environmental legislation. It is essential
the workforce that produces these results is competent and that
there is evidence to prove this competence.
It
is important that analysts have confidence in their results and
have some means of establishing how they rate along side analysts
from other organisations. One way of achieving this is by participation
in Proficiency Testing schemes, but if there is none in your area
of activity what then?
In
1997, a group of laboratories mainly from the Specialised Organic
Chemicals Sector Association (SOCSA) along with LGC started an
informal network, SOCSA Analytical Networking Group (SANG). The
aim was to provide a discussion forum and to develop some benchmarking
activities. The first task was to carry out a benchmarking exercise
on the method validation procedures used by each of the companies.
More recently the group has been working with LGC on the basic
skills required by analytical chemists, a task that is part of
the VAM programme.
Using
some of the material from the Training Record developed with the
Pharmaceutical Analytical Sciences Group (PASG) and the results
(which were achieved in routine operations) from some of the round
robin exercises the material in the Competency Evaluation by Benchmarking
has been reviewed and accepted by the following companies.
†Both
Acordis and Albright & Wilson were involved at an early stage
but are no longer a part of the SANG network. The former has been
recently acquired by CVC Capital Partners and the latter by Rhodia.
‡Unilever
are not members of the SANG network but were involved in a review
of the work
|