Monday, June 11, 2018

Happy World Accreditation Day 2018


We all have our special days.  

For many (most?) we celebrate cultural/social/religious events like Christmas, or Ramadan, or Rosh Hashana, or Mother's Day.  For others there are national birthdays, and for others they are just a good excuse to have a good time (April 20th) or better still, a long week-end if possible at least one a month.   

But there are others, let's call them occupation-recognition days that usually come up as a moment to remind ourselves (and others) that what we do is important.  I’m thinking about National Secretaries’ day, or International Nurses’ Day, or Doctors’ Day, or International Accountants Day, and even National Be Kind to your Lawyers’ Day.

So we should not be too surprised that there is a some days for Qualitists and Qualitologists to celebrate Quality.   Actually we have three days including (a) International Standards Day (October 14th) which celebrates the day that ISO was founded (which happens to also be Deming’s Birthday), and World Quality Day (the second Thursday in November) which was pronounced by the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) in (I think) 2008.  
 The third is World Accreditation Day which was founded jointly by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) to fall on each June 9th starting also in 2008.  

I am not sure why there are three different days to celebrate Quality especially when Quality, Standards, and Accreditation are so intimately linked, but what-the-hey, each can become its own reason and recognition for partying and celebration and a congratulatory pat on the back.

In our certificate course we talk about Quality Partners as those bodies that exist to help medical laboratories enhance their own quality, and we include Standards Development Bodies and Accreditation Bodies as two of the essential partner groups.  So it is relevant and appropriate that I remind our participants of their special days.
The others are PT/EQA, educators, suppliers, and professional bodies, which reminds me that we should tack on to our celebration calendar October 5 (World Teachers’ Day) and May 15 (Suppliers’ Day).

So for those who plan to celebrate World Accreditation Day today (I see that Standards Council of Canada is have a big “do” today) this is a time for congratulations.  I’ll wait a few days before I re-raise the persistent and annoying disconnect the exists between Accreditation and Quality Improvement.  

And since it I can’t seem to find any reference anywhere for a Work Proficiency Testing / External Quality Assurance Day (World PT/EQA Day) I think I will make its creation and recognition as my new mission.