Abstract
There is an increasing demand for laboratories to have a quality management system (QMS) to ensure internationally accepted standards of quality are met, thereby providing assurance to their clients of the performance, competency and quality of the test results produced. This paper presents the steps involved in the establishment and implementation of a QMS in the Biosecurity Authority of Fiji plant health laboratories, with the support from New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries Plant Health and Environment Laboratory. The paper describes the manner in which an organisation can receive external support through subject matter experts, whom are operating in a relevant technical field, utilising their skills and experience to create a QMS framework. Our experience of implementing QMS for a plant health laboratory in Fiji may help other laboratories in developing countries to pursue a QMS for their laboratories. This paper provides guidance on how to start a QMS from a minimalistic plan and incrementally build towards accreditation, and potentially ISO/IEC 17025:2017.
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References
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Acknowledgements
We thank Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) for funding the project and MPI PHEL management and BAF management for their support and commitment in setting up a simple and efficient operational QMS. The MPI PHEL QMS team are appreciative of the assistance from the BAF Plant Scientific Team and laboratory staff and commend them for their whole-hearted approach in adapting to the new system. We also thank MPI PHEL Scientific staff who provided support to the BAF QMS team. The authors also wish to acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Lisa Ward (PHEL), Dr. Lia Liefting (PHEL) and Mr. Nilesh A. Chand (BAF) for the critical review of the paper.
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Murugan, S., Anderson, D., Gunawardana, D. et al. Experience in establishing a quality management system at a plant diagnostic laboratory in Fiji. Accred Qual Assur 25, 179–183 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-020-01429-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-020-01429-5