ISO 17025: know the importance of this accreditation

ISO 17025: know the importance of this accreditation Have you heard of ISO 17025 accreditation? It is most important because it contributes to the globalization of procedures worldwide in various calibration and testing laboratories.

What is ISO 17025?

The ISO 17025 Accreditation standard is used in the quality management system. It guarantees that the methodology used in a weight calibration, for example, makes the calculation procedures and the form of treatment work equally. Thus, many discussions can be avoided and the standards maintained. This ensures that the calibration procedure will be the same in the world.

It is worth noting that it is associated with quality management, not product quality. After all, they have different issues. The name of the standard is: “requirements for the competence of a calibration test laboratory.”

It is as if it were ISO 9001, but with some additional requirements and aimed at the field of laboratory testing and calibration. This is a competence criterion whose contribution is used to enable the laboratory to issue the calibration and test certificate.

Therefore, it does not establish a link that is up to other standards and does not constitute a followup, as it is intended for a process approach. This ISO treats the company as if it were divided into processes, analyzing it from such a perspective.

How important is ISO 17025?

In the past, laboratories that did not have accreditation reported that, despite not being qualified, they had traceable standards. To prove it, they sent copies of the standards; however, as there were no criteria, changes began to be thought in this sense.

In addition to evaluating the quality management system, verifies competence using technical criteria — traceability, method validation, and uncertainty calculation. That is, it validates impartiality and confidentiality.

It is worth mentioning that there is an international system of weights and measures so that all countries can communicate. It encompasses an unbroken chain of measurements always connected to the global reference. Following the international system, the reference for a standard weight is the primary standard.

ISO 9001 consulting services guarantee the competence of its activities, unlike one that is only certified by ISO 9001, given that it does not ensure such competence. In addition to traceability, proven under international standards, it guarantees technical competence, confirmed by the quality management system implemented and frequently audited.

How to get ISO 17025 accredited?

The organization has international agreements and treaties to be able to accredit laboratories by the 17025 standards. ISO 9001 qms consulting services has a department that is responsible for the process.

In short, the interesting laboratory gets in touch and is willing to fulfil several requirements.

Regarding documentation, there are two major categories: guidance documents (non-mandatory) and normative documents (mandatory). A simplified step-by-step to get accreditation would be: • register; • Send the mandatory documentation on the incorporation of the interested company; • Participate in a Proficiency test, which consists of carrying out the calibration or test and comparing the results with already accredited laboratories (a procedure carried out by a third party, in an impartial way); • Have the building laboratory facilities and the quality system evaluated by 17025 Accreditation.

Conclusion: 17025 is not easy to implement, but the most difficult is maintaining it. This is because it is not feasible to manufacture evidence — the audit is time-consuming. It looks for faults to fix them.

Therefore, the entire team needs to be aware and trained.

Source: https://callabaccess-blog.tumblr.com/post/691022781128769536/iso-17025-know-theimportance-of-this