Our Commitment to Quality
The SPSA Forensic Services is committed to delivering a scientific support service from its forensic science laboratories, fingerprint bureaux and scenes of crime departments which is derived both from technical excellence and sound management practice.
To this end, we have sought for new ways to enhance the quality of our scientific support output and have embarked on a programme of change which will bring the various scientific disciplines under the same corporate quality banner.
Corporate Quality - Leading the Way Ahead for a New Approach
Our laboratories are all currently accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) and display the ISO 17025:2005 quality mark. ISO is an internationally recognised Quality Management System used by more than 500,000 companies in 150 countries and means that all our processes and procedures are subject to external audit by an authorised body.
We are committed not only to maintaining this accredited status, but to enhance opportunities for improvements in operational effectiveness and efficiency by aligning the various laboratory management systems into one corporate entity.
In line with this strategy, we are working with UKAS to achieve accreditation of our fingerprint departments to the same quality standard. This will set a best in class benchmark for forensic services elsewhere in the World.
In addition, we are participating in a UKAS led, UK wide pilot project to bring Crime Scene Examinations under the most appropriate quality standard for this type of criminal justice activity; ISO 17020:1998-General Criteria for the Operation of Various Types of Bodies Performing Inspection has been selected for this purpose.
Significantly, management systems accredited to either of these standards have the potential to join seamlessly, thus allowing 'SPSA Forensic Services Quality' to sit under a single quality banner.
Measurement of Performance- Assuring the Quality of Our Output
By law in the UK, accreditation to international standards can only be granted by a sole government appointed body, UKAS. Maintenance of accredited status requires that we robustly demonstrate to UKAS that, on an ongoing basis, we measure, analyse and seek to improve the quality of our operations. This is done through a variety of objective processes such as audit and review, and the participation in inter laboratory proficiency testing programmes.