Quality Points program

This documentation allows the winery to accurately describe what procedures, frequency, and chemicals were used to ensure that operations were conducted in a consistent manner. At the conclusion, representative surfaces should be sampled for microbiological populations and/or excess sanitizer. All data should be collected for future examination and potential changes. These records not only become part of the overall quality points program (Chapter 10) but also will serve as documentation if a legal issue arises. 

Figure 10.1. Abridged wine processing scheme that can he used to establish a quality points program. Much more detail is normally needed for an effective flowchart.

We have found that rigorous sorbent pretreatment procedures (e.g., Soxhlet extraction and thermal desorption) in concert with a well-established quality control program will successfully control potential contamination effects arising from the sample collection media. Furthermore, a well-executed quality control program will permit identification of spurious data points attributable to media contamination when and if they do occur. 

Quality control of acellular pertussis vaccines presents particular problems related to the various methods used for preparation of the active components, the different compositions of the final formulations, and different amounts of antigen. Researchers in the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control in the UK have presented a strategy capable of addressing the key problem areas likely to be encountered with all existing types of acellular pertussis vaccines and combinations (2). Their proposal could be considered as a starting point for improvement of quality control programs for these vaccines. 

One of the principal elements of Green Zia that will be the focus of this paper is the third-party assessment and feedback report process. Like our Baldrige brethren at both the national level and at the state Quality Award Program level, Green Zia employs a number of volunteers to read applications that are submitted to our state Environment Department, provide nonprescriptive feedback on strengths and opportunities for improvement, determine a score for the application based on a 1000-point scale, and possibly conduct a site visit to verify/clarify the application. This paper will describe all aspects of the third-party examination process and will provide some personal insight as to the strengths and opportunities for improvement of our own process. 

The laboratories who do CLP analyses for inorganic constituents have to maintain an extensive Quality Assurance program. This includes analysis of duplicates, laboratory blanks, interference checks, and laboratory control samples. However, the prescribed Quality Assurance does not always transfer to the laboratory bench. Also at times, routine analytical procedures will not yield the chemical information that is necessary for aqueous modeling. The following points out when these problems occur and what steps the researcher needs to take to insure data adequate for modeling. 

Infiltration of precipitation and dispersion from urban atmosphere can act as a non-point source transport of MTBE and other VOCs into shallow groundwater [27]. One of the first studies that pointed out the potential MTBE occurrence and persistence in groundwater tables was a survey conducted from 1993-1994 as part of the US Geological Survey s National Water-Quality Assessment Program [28]. Among 60 VOCs analyzed by P T-GC/MS,... 

Some companies have built their quality improvement programs on much of what Denting has proposed. But I do not know of an organization that has adopted all of Deming s 14 points, some of which are controversial. But, Deming s disciples are rabid followers, as the following example indicates. 

The gas quality feeding the dry faee seal should be elean and dry. Due to the possibility of eondensation of the proeess gas in the seal eavity, it was deeided to use a seal gas heater. The heater eontrol was set to provide warm gas at 15°C above the dew point to ensure no eondensate entered the seal eavity. Also, a dual filter in series with 5 and 2 p filtration elements was ehosen to provide an ideal sealing environment and maintain the optimum performanee of the seal. To reduee the risk of seal damage during reverse rotation of the turboexpander, programming logie was set to open the eompressor bypass valve whenever a shutdown impulse was initiated. 

Anecdotal evidence exists that some companies have relaxed their material identification programs when their suppliers systems comply with quality standards. In view of the serious results of occasional minor errors—minor from the suppliers point of view—it is doubtful if this is wise. 

New regulatory initiatives (e.g., from OSHA and EPA) and industry programs (e.g., the Chemical Manufacturers Association s Responsible Cate effort) have stimulated increased attention to PSM. While compliance is certainly a requirement in deciding to implement PSM, it is by no means the only ben t. Rather, compliance is the baseline from which other benefits evolve. The quality and effectiveness of the system your company ultimately adopts could well depend on how persuasively those benefits are conveyed. Remember, at this point in your initiative, the goal is to win endorsement of a concept, not approval of a full-fledged plan. The core of that concept is the idea that PSM offers benefits over and above compliance with new regulations, or conformance with an industry initiative. 

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