As the DAMAS name continues to spread across the UK, the benefits of the scheme become ever more clear, and the number of new laboratories registering continues to grow. November sees us visiting around 20 laboratories so far, with around a third of these being for new registrations.

Staff Training Records -Keeping up to date!

Has your organisational chart changed at all in the last 12 months?

• Taken on new staff?
• Promoted any staff?
• Is your Staff Continuing Professional Development (CPD) up to date?

Have you updated your staff training records and your organisational chart?

Checking and updating your staff records regularly not only helps to highlight training and CPD needs, but can also help you and your staff keep a good up to date knowledge of their current skill base and progress rates.

MHRA Registration – Ensuring you are up to date!

Registration with the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is a legal requirement as all dental laboratories are required to comply with the Medical Devices Directive and Medical Devices Regulations.

Have you moved address?

Have you changed your trading name?

If the answer is yes then you need to inform the MHRA by completing an RG2 form  – www.mhra.gov.uk

It is also advisable that you check that you are listed on the MHRA register as many laboratories details have been archived following the 2008 live publishing of the register. Visit – http://aic.mhra.gov.uk/era/pdr.nsf/devicecode?openpage&RestrictToCategory=K1&start=1&count=200

Raising the profile of dental laboratories – fighting off the competition

With competition ever more fierce throughout the dental field, many more laboratories are taking up the DAMAS Scheme as an effective marketing tool. DAMAS helps to prove to clients, old and new, just how hard laboratories work to produce compliant, high quality appliances.

The number of laboratories currently registered in the North of England alone is fast approaching 120.

Closing nonconformities – completing the paperwork

For each nonconformity you receive during a DAMAS audit you will need to implement corrective actions to address the issues and complete a nonconformity finding report for the auditor detailing your actions.

If you are struggling to complete your nonconformity finding report then below is an explanation of how to compete your corrective action plan (detailed on the forms as section 3).

Root Cause – complete this section by detailing what the problem was and what caused the issue to happen in the first place.

Correction – complete this section detailing how you corrected the problem

Corrective action plan – complete this section detailing what plans you will or have put in place to stop the problem reoccurring.

Plan for verification of effectiveness – complete this section by detailing how you are going to check/verify that your corrective action plan has worked or been effective.

Remember – you will not receive your DAMAS certificate until your auditor has received your completed report.

Registrations hit an all-time high this month with 296 dental laboratories now being DAMAS registered.

So what does this equate to nationally?