Accreditation delivering a safer world |09 June 2018

World Accreditation Day, a joint initiative of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), aims each year to raise awareness of the need for universally recognised standards in the commercial, government and nonprofit sectors.

Statistics show that, in all aspects of our lives, there is a gap between expectation and reality in regard to achieving safe workplaces, safe products, safe transport, and safe food. Government, regulators and businesses must consider how they can close this gap. In light of this, the theme for this year’s Accreditation Day focuses on the use of accreditation to deliver a safer world.

Standards, accreditation and conformity assessments are market based tools that can be used in various sectors to identify health and safety risks and develop objectives, policies, processes and controls to minimise these risks. Completed projects, raw materials, products, processes, services, management systems and individuals can be evaluated against standards, codes of practices and regulatory requirements by testing and calibration laboratories, inspection bodies, certification bodies, and validation and verification bodies – collectively known as conformity assessment bodies – which ensure that products and services are safe for use.

Accreditation is the independent evaluation of these conformity assessment bodies against recognised standards to carry out specific activities to ensure their integrity, impartiality and competence. Through the application of national and international standards, government, businesses and wider society can therefore have confidence in the calibration and test results, inspection reports and certifications provided, delivering both increased confidence and safer practices.

Accreditation is now increasingly accepted worldwide as the most transparent and non-discriminatory mechanism to assure competency of conformity assessment service providers both in the voluntary and regulatory areas.

• To Industry and Trade accreditation facilitates trade and eliminates the need for repetitive testing, certification and inspection.
• To Regulators accreditation provides reliable and impartial basis for sound decision-making.
• To conformity Assessment Service Providers accreditation is a means of demonstrating your competency to your clients. Accreditation is an effective marketing tool and a passport to submit tenders to contractors that require independent verified conformity assessment service providers.
• To users of accredited services and consumers at large, accreditation is your guarantee for reliable and comparable conformity assessment results. Accreditation increases reliability of products.

World Accreditation Day 2018 provides an excellent opportunity to explore how accreditation can deliver a safer world and for businesses, government and regulators to find standards, conformity assessment and accreditation tools to help them in this goal.

The Environment Laboratory at the Seychelles Bureau of Standards (SBS) is accredited for seven tests for potable water and tests for heavy metals (Mercury, Lead and Cadmium) in fish, the Food Chemistry Laboratory is accredited for histamine test in fish and the Calibration Laboratory is accredited for calibration of mass. SBS is also in the process of expanding the scope of accreditation.

Contributed by the Seychelles Bureau of Standards