Trinidad and Tobago Laboratory Accreditation Service (TTLABS) takes this opportunity to join with the international community and celebrate World Accreditation Day on Thursday 9th June 2011. Accreditation is the tool which is internationally accepted for assuring the competence of a body to perform or execute a specific task. This is usually granted by an independent third party called an accreditation body of which TTLABS is one.

The theme for this year's celebrations is "Supporting the work of regulators". In our country, examples of regulators include the officers of the Environmental Management Authority, the inspectors of Food and Drugs Division, the inspectors of the Occupational Safety and Health Authority, and the Public Health Inspectors of Ministry of Health. Regulators play an important role in protecting our country from products and services which may have a negative impact on the health, safety and environment of our country. Regulators make informed decisions based on results of testing and calibration laboratories and personnel on the safety of the flora, fauna and citizens of our country. As such, accreditation is vital to their activities. The test results obtained from a water testing laboratory, for example, will be used by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) to determine whether a river is safe for public use. The Officers of EMA need to be able to trust these test results in order to make an informed decision. Accreditation provides that proven trust in the results produced by the laboratory since this is a third-party independent assessment of the technical competence of the laboratory to produce reliable results.

This is an easy example that one can identify with the need for accreditation. It also has implications for trade (exports), health and judicial deliberations. Do health insurance schemes review the quality of the medical laboratory from which it is accepting results for their clients? Do they consider the competence of the medical laboratory to provide reliable results? Accreditation of these facilities also assists in supporting these important activities which impact upon our daily lives.

TTLABS is the arm of the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS) that fulfils the legislative mandate of being the national laboratory accrediting body for Trinidad and Tobago (Standards Act No. 18 of 1997). This department has developed over the years to being a Full Member of the Inter-American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC) and an Affiliate Member of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). During this development, TTLABS has worked to incorporate the principles of accreditation as defined by the international community of ILAC, IAAC and International Accreditation Forum (IAF). Thus, TTLABS participates in activities of ILAC and IAAC, and shares this knowledge with the national community of businesses, consumers, regulators, associations and laboratories.

TTLABS provides accreditation services for testing, calibration and medical laboratories according to the International Standards of ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 – General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories and ISO 15189: 2007 – Medical laboratories – Particular requirements for quality and competence. For further information, you can contact us via email at lab.accreditation@ttbs.org.tt or by phone at 662-8827 ext 140.