Cawood Quality: upholding high standards in everything we do
Cawood works to the highest quality standards, both operationally and scientifically, to deliver accurate, reliable results for our clients and their customers. Our approach to quality is set out by our central compliance team and managed at each site by a compliance lead. This includes checking and following standard operating procedures (SOPs), completing required audits, communicating with accreditation bodies, and participating in relevant PT schemes.
At Cawood, we have a culture of continuous improvement. Whilst we are required to audit for compliance, we also do so to find opportunities to enhance our processes, facilities and capabilities. This helps maintain our reputation for providing accurate, dependable and visible results and supporting customers in making insightful decisions for their business.
Expert people
One of our greatest strengths is the expertise of our quality managers. Their experience of both compliance management and our business enables them to set and maintain group-wide standards and find opportunities to improve our offer. Customers have access to specialist technical knowledge from people who understand the complex science behind our services.
Established protocols
Customer samples are handled by qualified specialists using equipment that is calibrated and regularly tested. Each sample has a unique number for traceability and a quality control sample is run alongside every batch to validate the results. We hold sample data for a minimum of four years, so customers can revisit past results easily and efficiently.
Exacting standards
We are keen to demonstrate our quality and expertise by applying for and achieving accreditations across a broad range of our tests and services. Annual audits by accreditation bodies across the whole of the land-based industries ensure that standards are upheld. To find out more about our extensive list of accreditations, please visit our accreditations page.
Stringent quality procedures to eliminate cross-contamination
An example of our quality processes in action is our approach to preventing cross-contamination, which can become an issue for laboratories handling microbiological samples to detect diseases including Salmonella. At our Sci-Tech laboratory, our cross-contamination procedures are more stringent and effective than at any other laboratory in the country. Environmental swabbing is performed every morning and evening so that if any cross-contamination is found, it is fully traceable. We also have an absolute requirement to separate incompatible activities. If a test has the potential to impact another, then they are kept apart not just in different rooms but with different people working on them at all times.