GUYANA National Bureau of Standards (GNBS), in conjunction with the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ), hosted an accreditation workshop yesterday.
Twenty laboratories, from both the public and private sectors were in attendance at GNBS Sophia Headquarters, for the event which was part of the Caribbean Laboratory Accreditation Services (CLAS) Project.
One of the primary purposes of the exercise was to highlight the importance and benefits of laboratory accreditation and the advantages of regional cooperation.
CLAS Project Coordinator, Ms. Giselle Guevara said the objective is to create a service that would facilitate coordination of regional laboratory accreditation that leverages capacity in the region and harmonises processes and procedures while being cost effective and internationally recognised.
She said the beneficiaries CLAS, including Guyana, were identified through their lack of national accreditation bodies and resources to develop any.
Guevara pointed out that CLAS, phase two of a previously implemented medical labs project, seeks to ensure the practical implementation of an internationally recognised regional coordination of accreditation services that meet the needs of member States and stakeholders and, most importantly, provide confidence in the services/products produced within the Caribbean Region.
“The future aim is for accreditation services to be sustainable and cost effective,” she informed.
Guevara highlighted the fact that Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica are the only two Caribbean countries with international accreditation and said they will be working with CLAS to develop harmonised criteria for accrediting in the Region.
Alluding to the benefits of such accreditation for the general public, she said it would instill public confidence, minimise product failure, recalls and dangerous outbreaks.
Benefits for government and regulators include flexibility of approach to support legislation, increased confidence, reduction in the need for audits and inspections, creating a competitive environment and the ready acceptance of exported goods, reducing costs and the need for retesting, Guevara said.
Expounding on the import of quality management systems (QMS) that lead to accreditation, she said: “It is an investment in the future of the lab and the health of the population. QMS should make it easy to do the right thing and difficult to do the wrong thing.”
CROSQ is the regional body charged with the responsibility for coordinating and facilitating the establishment and harmonisation of standards for the enhanced efficiency and improved quality in the production of goods and services within CARICOM.
It facilitates consumer and environmental protection and improved trade within the community and with third States.
For the accreditation, specialist technical assessors conduct a thorough evaluation of laboratory practices and equipment that impact the production test or calibration data.
The evaluation criteria are based on the international standards ISO/IEC 17025 or ISO 15189 for medical laboratories, standards that are used to evaluate laboratories throughout the world.
Accredited labs are regularly re-examined to ensure that they maintain high standards of technical expertise.