Thursday 5th March 2015
Over the course of the past 2 years ALS has organised a number of 'client Training Days' at its laboratory sites across the UK.
The latest of these successful events was recently staged over 2 days at ALS's Trowbridge laboratory in Wiltshire and focussed on providing technical representatives from 20 leading manufacturers located across the south west with a greater understanding of microbiology.
Led by Dr Roderick Gibson, ALS's Group Technical Manager, and Andy Muirhead, ALS's Company Microbiologist, the interactive sessions included discussions on the following areas:
- The growth of microorganisms and the effect of time and environmental conditions on enumeration counts during storage and shelf life
- Key indicator organisms and pathogens
- Reasons why laboratory reports presumptive results sometimes don’t confirm
- Uncertainty of measurement and the impact on retesting
All visitors had the opportunity to meet the laboratory staff at Trowbridge and better understand the analytical processes that are carried out on-site as part of a laboratory tour.
The sessions also included a practical session - focussing on the importance of the sampling technique and use of consumables, including swabs - as well as training on ALS's web-based portal 'Webtrieve' such as trending results.
Excellent feedback was received from the attendees who found the days to be extremely beneficial and relevant to their daily tasks. Here are some of the comments we received:
"Very enjoyable; met my needs and expectations."
"Worthwhole and enjoyable; not just a broadcast."
"I will recommend other colleagues attend."
"Very friendly, informative and helpful. Thank you!"
Further Training Days are planned at our other sites across the UK (Carlisle, Chatteris, Mirfield and Sittingbourne) so if you would like to attend a future event please contact our Customer Service Team on 01354 697 028 or [email protected].