Examples of how accreditation is used in everyday life

In many sectors accreditation has already become part of our everyday life; thanks to its numerous benefits and advantages, its role is also getting stronger in many new sectors.

• In many sectors accreditation has already become part of our everyday life; thanks to its numerous benefits and advantages, its role is also getting stronger in many new sectors.
• When (as a consumer) you buy goods which are weighed for you, or when you fill your car’s tank, of course you wish to get your money’s worth, not less. It is therefore important that balances and gas station measuring systems are functioning correctly and measuring accurately.
• Medical laboratories analyse numerous samples every day; hospitals and health centres measure blood pressure. Both patients and doctors wish that the results of analyses and measurements would be correct, and that they could rely on them, since it is on these results that will normally depend their decision as to possible treatment and course of therapy.
• In construction of buildings and roads it is important what materials are used and how they are integrated. This refers to their strength, capacity and endurance. Integration of inadequate materials or incorrect production may cause damage or even collapse of the structure, which means hazard to people and the environment as well as more or less considerable additional costs.
• It is important for a healthy living environment that the permitted noise levels and other harmful emissions are not exceeded. In order to be able to act timely and properly to avoid detrimental effects, control measurements have to be performed within the scope of emissions monitoring. The correctness of such measurements and controls is of utmost importance for making decisions on action.
• Monitoring of the quality of drinking water is vital to ensuring safe supply of water. The water quality monitoring programme includes measurement of chemical, biological and physical parameters. The credibility of these results is crucial to both regular monitoring of water quality (trend analysis) and proper action in cases of threats to safety.
• Often – maybe even on a daily basis – we come across devices and objects which present a higher risk (e.g. elevators, gas bottles in household, service stations …), and we take it for granted that their use is safe. For this to be true, all these devices need to be adequately checked for meeting all the prescribed requirements, and the verifications and inspections must be done by competent operators. In Slovenia, accreditation has been required for these devices for a number of years now.
• Determination of the use of banned performance enhancing drugs is a very sensitive area, since the results of these investigations affect the reputation of an athlete, sports club or national team… In order to ensure credibility of the prescribed procedures, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) requires all the analyses to be conducted by accredited laboratories. Through such arrangement they ensure the highest possible level of trust in the results of the analyses.