Essay Sample on Forensic Lab Quality Assurance: Ensuring Evidence Accuracy & Reliability

Introduction

Quality assurance involves initiatives taken by organizations to prevent mistakes in services and products as well as avoiding problems while offering services to consumers (Asif, Ghalib, & Iftikhar, 2019). The importance of quality assurance is to ensure that services and products meet a specific threshold of acceptability. Forensic laboratories are used to examine physical evidence in criminal cases.

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A quality assurance system is necessary for the operation of a forensic laboratory because it helps in enhancing the quality of evidence used in criminal cases. Quality assurance systems are important in forensic laboratories since they involve quality control checks that are done to confirm that specific test results obtained are reliable and accurate, thus guarantees the quality standards. Besides, quality assurance systems describe activities that forensic laboratories should follow to ensure quality and competence as well as the integrity of scientific data used in criminal cases. Besides, quality assurance systems are used by agents in a forensic laboratory to ensure that they make a strong argument in court.

However, quality assurance and control differ in the aspects that they focus on. Quality assurance focuses on processes, while quality control is product-focused. Quality control ensures that services and products obtained are as per the set expectations and quality standards. Besides, quality control focuses on the adherence to processes, while quality assurance does not focus on the specific requirement of a service or product that is being developed. Examples of quality controls include fishbone diagram, software testing processes, inspection, as well as deliverable peer reviews (Asif et al., 2019). Some of the examples of quality assurance include project audits, standards, as well as process documentation. The activities of quality assurance are designed for process monitoring and product evaluation.

Some of the goals and objectives for a laboratory quality assurance manual include aspects such as preventing defects, provide confidence to services offered in the forensic laboratory, as well as attainment of standards that are set by an organization (Bastisch, 2017). Other goals and objectives that I would include in the quality assurance manual for a forensic laboratory would include strategies to ensure continuous improvement, measures to be used in quality control, quality planning as well as providing guidance to stakeholders on how quality management will be performed.

Other objectives that I would include in a quality assurance manual for laboratories would include reduction of costs, improving employees' motivation, as well as achieving market advantages. For instance, when the laboratory ensures that all quality standards are adhered to, employees feel motivated because they have more recognition for their work and also develop a sense of ownership (Bastisch, 2017).

Besides, quality assurance and control would help in achieving the objective of reducing costs for the laboratory because there is a decrease in the re-working of faulty products, as well as fewer wastages since products in the laboratory, are checked at each stage of the process. Also, I would also include the objective of building high trust with end-users of the laboratory products. Besides, by observing quality assurance activities and controls, the laboratory would be in a position to achieve the goal of being competitive within the market.

References

Asif, I., Ghalib, M., & Iftikhar, S. (2019). Forensic laboratory practices and quality. In Trends of Environmental Forensics in Pakistan (pp. 95-109). Academic Press.

Bastisch, I. (2017). Quality Assurance, Recommendations, and Standards. In Handbook of Forensic Genetics: Biodiversity and Heredity in Civil and Criminal Investigation (pp. 583-596).