IN THIS ISSUE
Primary Industries' quality effort

ISO 9001 explained

ISO 9001:2000 is an international standard that sets out requirements for a quality management system.  Quality is defined as meeting a customer's pre-defined expectations.  Customers can include external or internal customers.  Effectively ISO 9001 requires a laboratory to clearly define what outcomes its customers expect it to fulfill, and then to identify and monitor the processes that are used to reach these outcomes.  Typically quality management system certification in a laboratory will result in the following benefits:

  • Management of systematic risks that prevents failures as seen recently in overseas facilities that have been publicly scrutinized and contributed to the facility losing all credibility and a sound reputation
  • Ensures consistency, repeatability and reliability of research outcomes and test results
  • Removes risk of equipment not being properly calibrated
  • Provides benchmarks for performing a wide variety of tasks

Provides credibility and trustworthiness which leads to building and maintaining a strong reputation

In a first for the State Government, the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) recently partnered with NCS International to certify the quality management systems in all 74 of its research laboratories.

The research carried out in these laboratories assists the State's primary producers by providing quality research and test results.  These results contribute to the competitiveness and acceptability of the State's primary resource producers in down stream processing and manufacturing, and ensures that the regulatory framework is efficiently administered on the basis of accurate information.  The results also contribute to the Department's investment in the future, in terms of research on the sustainable use of primary resources.

DPI's Quality Manager, Greg Stevens, explains "often there is a skepticism from scientists and laboratory staff when third-party certification is introduced.  Some research officers see it as questioning their knowledge and technical skills and perceive that their freedom to be innovative will be reduced.  However as they progress through certification many come to understand that a systematic approach to practice frees up their time to concentrate on the research, and worry less about procedural issues and debates over responsibilities and authorizations.  Also laboratory managers and other stakeholders also feel more comfortable knowing that an independently certified quality management system exists in the laboratory.  The risk of something going wrong is reduced and there is consistency to the results being produced".

At DPI there have been further benefits.  Greg Stevens believes some of the greatest benefits have come from the creation of improved understanding and communication between non-technical managers, field research staff and the laboratories.  In other words the work towards and eventual certification of a quality management system can contribute to a change in culture.  "Interrelated processes are more clearly defined, everyone knows how their individual contribution fits into the overall scheme of things, and more ambitious and comprehensive research findings and test results can result" says Mr Stevens.  Such research findings and test results can then be more easily 'sold' by higher management and be more quickly dispersed and practically used to improve performance back out in the field.  Records are also better managed and areas for improving the control of data can be introduced.

NCS International's Senior Auditor, Lyn Davis, says "this work has been challenging yet very rewarding for us, as we used a carefully planned approach to cover a representative sample of activities within the required time." Government laboratories are often responding to customers that have competing demands in terms of timeliness and accuracy, and the links to the laboratory in the Department's overall processes is often more complex than in the private sector. 

"NCS International successfully adapted its certification approach to reflect these complexities," she said.