Accurate testing essential for lab professionals – Minister

Laboratory professionals here have been reminded of their responsibility to perform accurate testing with accurate measurements.{{more}}

This reminder came on Thursday, July 22, from Minister of Telecommunications Jerrol Thompson while addressing an audience of laboratory workers during the opening ceremony of the “Estimation of Measurement Uncertainty for Laboratories” workshop.

“As persons involved in the labs of our nations there is a fundamental responsibility that each one of you have to adhere to in terms of the accuracy of the testing. There

must be a level of professionalism in the performance of these tests,” stated Thompson at the opening of the two day exercise held at the Foreign Affairs and Trade conference room.

He added that the cost of the test must not outweigh the accuracy of the test.

“We must attempt sometimes, irrespective of the cost, to get that level of accuracy. Doing a cheaper test with a high level of uncertainty is totally unacceptable,” he said. Thompson remarked that professionals must also be aware of the level of uncertainty attached to each test.

He said the issue of measurement is a critical one as the correct measurement of medicines or ingredients of food and other substances can greatly impact the lives and health of others.

Facilitator of the workshop Mariana Arce-Osuna and Deenish Maharaj Project Coordinator of the CARICOM Regional Organization for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) also made brief remarks at the opening ceremony. Both encouraged the participants to be open and receptive and to ask as many questions pertaining to each topic.

In his welcoming remarks Director of the St. Vincent Bureau of Standard (SVGBS) Ezra Ledger said the workshop will enhance the “quality and livelihood of all our people.”

The workshop done in collaboration with CROSQ and the SVGBS covered topics such as controlling measurement and the process of reporting uncertainty, understanding uncertainty budgets, estimation of uncertainty in chemistry and physical mechanical measurements.

The workshop also explained the use of measurement uncertainty as an indicator of measurement capability for accreditation and proficiency by testing and calibration laboratories.

It also helped technicians to identify, describe and determine the factors which contribute to uncertainty in measurements when performing tests or calibrations.

Knowledge of the uncertainty of measurement of testing results is fundamentally important for laboratories, their clients and all institutions using these results for comparative purposes.

The SVGBS presently provides laboratory services in Basic Chemistry, Microbiology and Metrology and is working towards certification and accreditation of these services. This capacity is expected to promote greater

confidence in the SVGBS testing capacity.