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.
