News

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING DATES

We will be closed over the christmas period from noon on Friday the 23rd December until Tuesday 03rd January 2012 inclusive.

Although it is getting late, I expect an email to be deliver to our customers by the 12^th December to confirm the information.

Contact management systems have been updated and improved.

This process was necessary to incorporate the 'new' LIM system recenlty installed and to pave the way, in preparation for a new telephone system scheduled for installtion in 2012.  News of the changes will be sent out in due course detailing the new contact email format.  This will enable any queries to be dealt with efficiently by each department instead of going through a central portal. and being reliant upon one individual to deliver the message to the right department.

Keeping track of laboratory information and resources is a difficult task and tends to produce a lot of paperwork.  Since 2007 and the implementation of ISO9001 we have been committed to reducing the amount of paperwork generated from our internal processes.  During 2009 we extended this philsophy to include our external customers and the production of electronic certificates and reports

Now, in 2011, we are pleased to announce the launch of our new Laboratory Information Management (LIM) system.  It has taken 6 months to roll-out the finished product, with new IT infrastructure, software and networking stations and printers etc, but the product is now being operational and being pilotted with a number of customers to resolve any technical problems.

We anticipate trouble free operation of the system from Jan 2012

Researchers at the University of Quebec in Canada have called for national & international guidelines on Manganese in drinking water to be reviewed.

In the conclusion of there article, published in Environmental Health Perspectives Journal, they write that their findings 'support the hypothesis that low-level chronic exposure to manganese from drinking water is associated with intellectual impairments in children.

If you want to know more about the control of manganese in drinking water contact WOB at info@waterfallobrien.co.uk; we'd be happy to show you what simple techniques can be used to reduce manganese concentrations in drinking water.

An outbreak of Legionella is being investigated by the Health Protection Agency in Scotland.  Three people have died and six have been hospitalised, but the cause is unclear at this time.

Unrelated to this event, train companies are in the spotlight for failing to notify the public about possible exposure to Legionella. Passenger groups have called on rail companies to be more open with customers after it emerged a third of toilet water tanks on trains running across the UK carry the Legionella bacteria.

Control of Legionella bacteria is not difficult with the appropriate monitoring, if you want to know more about our services to control Legionella contact WOB at info@waterfalobrien.co.uk 

Motor vehicle bodyshop workers are being encouraged to protect themselves better while spray painting. Visits and telephone surveys of more than 500 bodyshops found sprayers and managers who were unaware of the link between isocyanates and asthma and almost 100 of 500 managers contacted by telephone did not know their booth clearance times.

If you are concerned about isocyanates exposure in the work place do something about it.

In keeping with our current philosophy of access to information we've added a number of documents to the website, that we feel are relevant and pertinent to the needs of our customers. To access them you need to visit the 'sitemap' area of this website.

If there are any particular concerns/ issues of analysis that you feel we need might like to  address, please drop us a line at info@waterfallobrien.co.uk.  We are here to improve the quality of life and access to information is an essential attribute to achieving that goal.

Garden centres, DIY stores and other outlets serving the amateur gardening market are being urged to stop selling peat-based composts within the next 10 years by a new DEFRA 'Act on CO2' campaign.

Amateur gardeners are also being targeted in order to raise awareness of the environmental impacts associated with the use of peat and the availability of alternative peat-free products.

Further information on the campaign is available at www.direct.gov.uk/buyingcompost.

Our portfolio of products is growing all the time- so check back frequently, but if we do not appear to do the products or tests that you want performed, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@waterfallobrien.co.uk; we are only too happy to apply our resources, expertise and knowledge to your particular problem.

We take problem-solving very seriously, and see it as part of what makes Waterfall & O'Brien the company it is today. We've been solving problems in the south-west of England since 1875!

We have just been informed that Waterfall & O'Brien have met the criteria for CHAS (Contractor Health And Safety) certification & accreditation; paperwork etc is still to follow, but we have received the letter of approval.

Because we visit building, construction and industrial sites in the course of our duties and because we provide specialist services, we as a group are classed as 'contractors', Hence, before commencing work, we are often requested to complete a HSE questionnaire. In some instances we also provide HSE advice and monitoring services, therefore we felt it was important to be recognised for our contribution to the health & safety culture and obtain some recognition by obtaining government approved formal accreditation.

Waterfall & O'Briens' new web-site was launched this week. The new site uses an interactive database to modify the site on a daily basis and according to its needs and customer response.

This approach was taken because it allows the cumulative knowledge, expertise and facilities of the site to be combined into products that specifically answer a customers needs; Is my water suitable for drinking? Where can I get rid of my waste? etc. and the best bit is it integrates directly into the laboratory; providing testing regimes, methods, equipment, instructions, all on a live, interactive database that can keep pace with current thinking and legislation.

MD comment. 'We felt that this was such an important concept to integrate into our web-site that it influenced our selection process of Internet providers. It also meant that our IT team had to design the site from the inside out; what you see is only quarter of the total site and we've only done this for our testing services.'

'When a customer requests a quote, by completing two or three selection boxes, this inormation is combined with a number of databases to provide the cumulative knowledge about that product to our operators, enabling them to respond in a timely manner. It also provides us with the next step in our acceditation quest!'