Trusting Your Scale Is Good, Calibrating It Is Even Better

Scale calibration guarantees that your scales show accurate measurement results, meaning, calibration ensures the safety of your patients and also gives you the utmost confidence in your weight measurements.
The feeling that the display is showing the actual weight of your patient is a cornerstone. How would it feel, if you could never be sure whether your scale is giving precise results or
sometimes showing a kilogram too much or too little? Accurate weight monitoring is not possible if there is the slightest chance for unprecise readings. Especially in Paediatric patients, such measurement errors can have serious consequences and endanger the well-being of patients.

A non-Class III verified scale is always flawed by doubts in accuracy. You never know for sure if its readings are correct. You never know if weight monitoring is precise. Only Class III verified scales are safe for medical use in a healthcare setting for determining medication, treatment or diagnosis of patients. A lot relies on accurate measurement – proper medication dosages, chemotherapy amounts, and dialysis in a healthcare setting for the determination of medication, treatment or diagnosis of patients.

What is the difference between approval/verification and calibration?

In order to assure that the scale keeps its accuracy over time, it must have a 5-point calibration test every year (6 monthly for sensitive clinical applications such as Paediatrics, Oncology, Renal etc). To do this, calibrated test weights are placed on the scale. If the weight readings are out of tolerance, the scale will be recalibrated by an accredited technician using weights traceable to national standards. Following adjustment and recalibration,
the scale must be reverified by an approved service organisation, which holds Reverification Certification accredited by Office for Product Safety and Standards. The scale is deemed calibrated and verified by an official sticker placed on the scale.

Why should I have my scale regularly inspected and maintained?

A Class III-verified scale is initially calibrated during production by the manufacturer. They are 100 % accurate from the start and usually remain highly accurate after ten years of use. However, this may not be the case as many environmental and external factors can negatively influence this initial calibration. Perhaps a staff member has dropped the scale or accuracy has been affected by heat or it got hit by a stretcher wheel. Scale testing at regular intervals provides you and your patients with 100% assurance that the displayed results are correct.

The annual periodic verification is a mandatory check applicable to all Non-Automatic Weighing Instruments (requiring the intervention of an operator during weighing) used for(requiring the intervention of an operator during weighing) used or the determination of patients’ weight in medical or paramedical practice for reasons of monitoring, diagnosis or medical treatment, for the manufacture of medicines or for medical analysis.

Article by seca.