COMPETITION in the calibration gases market is heating up with leading speciality gases supplier Afrox awarded ISO 17025:2017 accreditation by the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS). Afrox’s laboratory and technicians are now officially recognised by South African officials as competent to provide speciality gas mixtures to exacting tolerances and standards.
The ISO 17025:2017 accreditation of Afrox provides medical laboratories, environmental, construction, power suppliers, automotive, materials and chemicals industries, among others, with a wider choice of suppliers. Regulations mandate all companies can only use accredited standards of calibration gases to calibrate their emissions detection instruments, confirmed Afrox senior director of PGP & healthcare, Marius Kruger.
“This accreditation will allow Afrox to penetrate new markets and offer superior products and services than currently available in South Africa,” said Kruger. “It is also an excellent development for many companies that competition in the calibration gases space is opening up and providing more choice to the highest of standards.”
In real terms, ISO 17025:2017 enables Afrox to demonstrate its laboratory operates competently and generates valid, reliable and certified results of calibration gas mixtures, enabling the industrial and medical gases company to ensure customer confidence both nationally and across sub-Saharan Africa.
Afrox has invested more than R20 million in an automated gravimetric filling plant and upgraded its analytical capabilities to enable more stringent analytical criteria for its range of HiQ Life Science gases and calibration mixtures. These gases are analysed for accuracy of composition, harmful impurities such as sulphur dioxide, nitric oxide and volatile organic compounds. The leading gases company also invested an additional R5 million to upgrade laboratory equipment required to analyse and certify mixtures to industry requirements.
“These forward-looking investments and the high calibre of our laboratory technicians and equipment give us a real edge in many markets and shows Afrox’s ongoing commitment to existing and new customer requirements,” said Kruger.
“As a result of the upgrade of the analytical capabilities, Afrox is now able to analyse a far wider range of substances with concentrations as low as one part per million, and in some instances even as low as parts per billion,” said Danie Kriel, Afrox head of sales management PGP compressed. “A Certificate of Calibration is provided for each mixture which provides details on the analysis results, adding additional certainty that the mixture will not be harmful to life in its required application.”
Kriel added: “The ISO 17025:2017 accreditation will enhance customer confidence and satisfaction with our products and accreditation scope being larger than what is offered in the market. Additionally, our calibration measurement capability and accuracy is by far better as a result of the steps Afrox has taken in recent times.”
SANAS confirmed that “Following the SANAS Approval Committee meeting on 18 October 2023, accreditation has been granted in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017 to, African Oxygen (Pty) Ltd, Afrox Analytical Services, Accreditation No: CAL 099-15-00.”
