09 August 2005

Virginia Governor Appoints Panel to Review the Forensics Lab

Virginia's lab, which has been in trouble ever since its DNA findings were disproven in the Washington (non)rape debacle, now has a panel of 13 independent scientists overseeing it. They "will review laboratory operations, adopt qualification standards for the lab director and other staffers, and establish an audit process to be used when errors occur."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"when errors occur"?

Either people are using words differently than I'm used to, or this is wrong. Audits should be part of the process, ensuring that errors are minimized. Any operations person can tell you this.

I work in technical operations (my company is a consultancy building software for other companies), which I know is very different than this sort of thing. But still, "audit on error", in my experience, is equivalent to mandating a sloppy shop. You don't even need to drink the six-sigma koolaid to get that far.