To raise awareness about the importance of accreditation, the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) organize World Accreditation Day (WAD) each year on 9 June. In 2016 the event looked at how we can use accreditation to support public policy.
Standards, together with conformity assessment, can be used by government policy makers to deliver better regulation, environmental protection, public safety, fraud prevention, fair and efficient markets and public trust.
Certification, calibration, testing, inspection, and validation and verification, are all forms of accredited conformity assessment activity. They are a great asset to the public sector as a way of helping officials meet their policy objectives. For example, accreditation may assist a department of justice in making sure that forensic labs performing activities like DNA analysis are reliable and follow best practice. Other areas benefitting from accreditation include health, safety, environmental protection and construction, to name a few.
