Experience in establishing a quality management system at a plant diagnostic laboratory in Fiji

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.