You might think that labelling was a relatively minor part of herbal medicine production.
You could not be more wrong!
Effective labelling is of fundamental importance to everything we do.
Careful control of identity labels is VITAL. Think of the awful consequences of giving a patient the wrong product or the wrong strength because an erroneous label was used. That is why we have strict regulations for labelling from arrival of raw herbs to despatch of finished medicines.
Examples of labels include sample labels, raw material labels, percolator bucket labels, product labels and many other variations.
Controlling all these labels in a fast-moving production environment requires conscientious staff following regulations and paying great care to details.
All labels are controlled. There are never occasions when labels are lying around loose. If there are surplus labels at the end of a particular operation they must be destroyed.
Staff must report labels that are "stray" or otherwise defective. Labels adrift, labels falling off, labels that appear to be in the wrong place or on the wrong item - all these must be reported. Also any labels that are damaged, dirty or faded.
Labels must never be put on lids (in case lids are switched for any reason).
Supervisors who are authorised to control labels are carefully identified in our staff structure and trained. Once labels are issued they are checked according to a set procedure - particularly the form of the medicine (whether tincture, fluid extract etc); whether the Latin binominal name matches the common name and whether the spelling is correct; whether the plant part (root, leaf, bark etc) is correct; codes receive special attention and checking as do batch numbers; country of origin must be correctly identified - and many other items of information that goes onto our labels.
Bulk labels are stored in locked cupboards and only designated staff are allowed access. Labels are controlled items in our stock inventory and when issued have to be reconciled. The quantity printed, used and disposed of has to balance.
At the risk of sounding obsessive, it is no exaggeration to say that labels are an all-consuming all-important fact of life at Herbs in a Bottle!
You could not be more wrong!
Effective labelling is of fundamental importance to everything we do.
Careful control of identity labels is VITAL. Think of the awful consequences of giving a patient the wrong product or the wrong strength because an erroneous label was used. That is why we have strict regulations for labelling from arrival of raw herbs to despatch of finished medicines.
Examples of labels include sample labels, raw material labels, percolator bucket labels, product labels and many other variations.
Controlling all these labels in a fast-moving production environment requires conscientious staff following regulations and paying great care to details.
All labels are controlled. There are never occasions when labels are lying around loose. If there are surplus labels at the end of a particular operation they must be destroyed.
Staff must report labels that are "stray" or otherwise defective. Labels adrift, labels falling off, labels that appear to be in the wrong place or on the wrong item - all these must be reported. Also any labels that are damaged, dirty or faded.
Labels must never be put on lids (in case lids are switched for any reason).
Supervisors who are authorised to control labels are carefully identified in our staff structure and trained. Once labels are issued they are checked according to a set procedure - particularly the form of the medicine (whether tincture, fluid extract etc); whether the Latin binominal name matches the common name and whether the spelling is correct; whether the plant part (root, leaf, bark etc) is correct; codes receive special attention and checking as do batch numbers; country of origin must be correctly identified - and many other items of information that goes onto our labels.
Bulk labels are stored in locked cupboards and only designated staff are allowed access. Labels are controlled items in our stock inventory and when issued have to be reconciled. The quantity printed, used and disposed of has to balance.
At the risk of sounding obsessive, it is no exaggeration to say that labels are an all-consuming all-important fact of life at Herbs in a Bottle!
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