Conference Abstract | Volume 9, Abstract 072 (ConfProc7) | Published: 13 Aug 2026
Lady Boamah Adomako1,&, Bernard Nkrumah2, Gifty Boateng3, Samuel Armoo1
1Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Water Research Institute, Accra, Ghana , 2African Field Epidemiology Network, Accra, Ghana, 3National Public Health and Reference Laboratory, Ghana Health Service, Accra, Ghana
&Corresponding author: Lady A. Boamah Adomako, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Water Research Institute, Accra, Ghana, Email: asantewa84@gmail.com
Received: 29 Aug 2025, Accepted: 28 Oct 2025, Published: 13 Aug 2026
Domain: Laboratory System Strengthening
Keywords: ISO 17025, SLIPTA Assessment, Preventive Maintenance, Laboratory Quality, Accreditation Readiness
©Lady Boamah Adomako et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Lady Boamah Adomako et al. Assessment of equipment management practices at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Water Research Institute Microbiology Laboratory. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2026;9(ConfProc7):072. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO7-0072
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Water Research Institute (WRI) Microbiology Laboratory plays a key national role in water quality testing and serves as Ghana’s focal laboratory for environmental antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance. As part of an ongoing quality system strengthening efforts toward ISO 17025 accreditation, an internal assessment of equipment management practices was conducted with the aim of identifying strengths and areas for improvement to support sustainable laboratory excellence and accreditation readiness.
This was a descriptive cross-sectional assessment using a mixed-methods approach. Existing equipment inventories, calibration certificates, and maintenance records were reviewed. In addition, the WHO Strengthening Laboratory Quality Improvement Process Toward Accreditation (SLIPTA) checklist and ISO 17025 Clause 6.4 were applied as benchmarks against current practices at WRI.
A total of 108 equipment was documented across the Microbiology (63) and Molecular Biology (42) sections. There were functional systems for equipment inventory and calibration of key instruments. The SLIPTA score for equipment management was 20/38. Areas identified for enhancement included improved documentation of calibration traceability and structured preventive maintenance planning. An ISO-aligned equipment inventory and maintenance templates were developed to strengthen recordkeeping and support standardization.
The CSIR-WRI Microbiology Laboratory has a functional quality assurance system that conforms to the requirements of ISO 17025 standard. The development of equipment inventory and maintenance templates will improve documentation consistency, preventive maintenance, and calibration management. Through this initiative, the laboratory will continue to demonstrate leadership and commitment to quality, reliability, and public health excellence in Ghana.
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