Quality assurance and control department

Quality assurance and control department of RA NAS “National Bureau of Expertises” SNPO functions since 2005.

Main activity of Quality assurance and control department is providing the Organization with a strategy; creation, approval and implementation of quality management system in correspondence with Organization’s activities in expert field, its protection in an appropriate level and continual improvement.

Within the II and III quarter of 2009 works concerning the implementation of quality management system corresponding to the requirements of ISO 9001: 2008 have been carried out, during this period departments’ regulations, position instructions have been fixed, departments activities have been formed, the procedures of control of documents and records, internal audit, management review, corrective and preventive actions, improvement, supplier assessment have been worked out and implemented, which satisfy the workability of quality management system and raise its continual effectiveness. As well as, were implemented administrative and security regulations and procedures in correspondence with international standards.

As a result of performed work, on 19 October 2009 the organization was given a certificate of conformity by the Ministry of Economy certification body: “National Institute of Standards” CJSC which certifies that services, providing by the organization correspond to ISO 9001:2008 “Quality Management Systems: Requirements”. Besides, on 30 December 2010 two testing laboratories of NBE (food and ballistic) were given accreditation certificates by the National Accreditation Body of the Republic of Armenia: Council for accreditation of certification bodies and testing laboratories in the field of conformity assessment which certify that the above mentioned laboratories correspond to ISO/IEC 17025-2005 “General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories”.

At present Quality assurance and control department, in the scope of “Intergovernmental agreement made between the Republic of Armenia and the USA on drug control and law enforcement cooperation”( Armenian-American program INL), as well as in cooperation with corresponding departments and international assessors in quality assurance and management field: Donnell Christian – Senior consultant in Forensic expertises of INL program, Director of “Professional Business Solutions, INC (PBSI)”(Saint Louis, USA), Terry Mills – Accreditation manager of “Forensic Quality Services”(Florida, USA), David Stevens – Accreditation adviser of “American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors” (Northern Carolina, USA) are being carried out documentation of policies, procedures and instructions, as well as are being defined Organization’s goals and objectives in correspondence with ISO/IEC 17025-2005 international standard guided by Organization’s Charter, RA legislation, international treaties, requirements of ISO 9001-2008, ILAC-G19:2002 and other international standards.

Within the scope of its activities the department cooperates with “National Institute of Standards” and “National Institute of Metrology” CJS companies having aim to conform the realized activities of expertise departments to the requirements of governmental, intergovernmental and international standards, and to keep the used equipment in their proper and calibrated form, thus ensuring the quality and confidence to the expertises and testings.

Periodically the department realizes expert staff testing to recheck their level of qualification and professional skills, organizing courses of qualification improvement or trainings with educational department, if needed.

E-mail: qa@nbe.am