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About OLA
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Background and Operating
Principles
Development of OLA began on
September 15, 2000. OLA was implemented in 2003.
Accreditation services are
provided to licensed Ontario medical laboratories under agreement with the
MOHLTC, and laboratories from other jurisdictions in Canada or other countries
may voluntarily apply for accreditation. Applicant laboratories for voluntary
accreditation are assessed by QMP–LS and issued ISO 15189 certificates by the
Standards Council of Canada (SCC) under a partnership agreement (see
“Partnership with Standards Council of Canada”).
Operations comply with the
following international standard and guidelines:
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ISO/IEC
17011:2004 Conformity assessment–General requirements for accreditation
bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies
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ILAC-G11:07/2006
ILAC Guidelines on Qualification and Competence of Assessors and
Technical Experts
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ILAC-G3:1994
ILAC Guidelines for Training Courses for Assessors Used by Laboratory
Accreditation Schemes
This standard, guidelines
and the resulting operating principles distinguish the OLA medical laboratory
accreditation program from others available in North America in the following
ways:
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Volunteer
assessors are pre-certified through a comprehensive assessor training
program, consisting of 18 hours of self-study, 2½ days of classroom
training, formal examination and annual refreshers to maintain
certification.
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All
OLA accreditation assessment teams are accompanied on site by a QMP–LS
staff technologist. This ensures consistency in the assessment process, that
impartiality is maintained, and that confidentiality is observed. Assessment
teams contain technical experts in all areas covered under the scope of
accreditation.
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Key
assessor competencies form the basis of performance evaluations.
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A
QMP–LS quality management system facilitates consistency in processes,
identification of non-conformities, corrective and preventive actions,
complete and controlled documentation and records, and integration with the
EQA division for ongoing surveillance in accredited laboratories.
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Certificates
to ISO 15189 are issued by SCC (conditions apply – see “Agreement with
Standards Council of Canada”).
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Revised: 2008-10-03
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