What an expired calibrator certificate really costs

A calibration is only as good as the reference it was made with. Traceability is the unbroken chain from a reading at the bench, through the calibrator, through the laboratory that calibrated the calibrator, up to a national standard. Each link is a certificate with a date on it.

The quiet failure

Calibrators are built for the field and rarely look broken. A handheld pressure calibrator whose certificate expired last month works exactly as it did the month before. The technician who picks it up has no reason to check the label, and the calibration goes ahead.

The readings may even be correct. But nobody can show it. Every certificate issued with that calibrator since its expiry rests on a reference without current evidence, and an auditor will treat them that way.

What it takes to recover

• Find every calibration made with the calibrator since its certificate expired.
• Send the calibrator to the laboratory and get its as-found results.
• If it was out of tolerance, assess every instrument it was used on, and repeat those calibrations if needed.

Each step is slow when calibrations are spread over several systems and paper files.

Make it impossible instead

In Calibrator, each calibrator carries its own certificate: number, laboratory and expiry date. A calibrator whose certificate has expired cannot be chosen for a calibration; the database refuses it, not just the screen. The overview warns 30 days before a calibrator expires, so it can go to the laboratory before it is needed.

And because every calibration and certificate in Calibrator names the calibrator used, with its certificate number and laboratory, the trail back to the reference is always on the record.