ISO/IEC 17025 is the international standard for testing labs wanting to demonstrate their competence, impartiality, and consistency to deliver reliable results. The standard was created by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in collaboration with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
What’s the difference between ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 17025?
While both ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 17025 are intended for QMS, the difference is in the scope of the requirements. ISO 9001 outlines the specific requirements for a quality management system and is a very general standard. It can apply to most organizations and is widely used in manufacturing and service industries. ISO/IEC 17025, on the other hand, is specific to testing and calibration laboratories. The same basic quality management requirements are found in both, but within ISO/IEC 17025, the organization must demonstrate competence in analytical testing.
Why is ISO/IEC 17025 Important?
The ISO/IEC 17025 standard is utilized to implement a quality system that enables a laboratory to produce consistently valid results. The overall goal is to continually improve the effectiveness of the Quality Management System (QMS) and meet customer needs. Labs that achieve ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation demonstrate that they operate competently and confidently to generate valid results that can be accepted nationally and around the world.
From a lab perspective, accreditation provides:
- A point of reference for maintaining laboratory competence.
- A baseline for the lab to determine if they are performing their work correctly and helps to ensure a higher confidence in results when reporting.
- Incentive for continual improvement in operations, testing, customer service, and business processes
What does a lab need to be accredited?
In order to achieve ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, the lab needs:
- Documented workflows and procedures
- Training
- Implement all aspects of the Quality Management system
- Method validations
- Uncertainty calculations
- Prove proficiency (Includes QC oil preparations and Proficiency Testing)
What does accreditation mean to you?
Ultimately, the benefits the lab receives by following ISO/IEC 17025 standards impacts significantly on customer satisfaction. Accreditation uses standards and procedures specifically developed to determine technical competence which assures you that the data and results provided are accurate and reliable.
This is accomplished through:
- Qualifications, training, and experience of the staff
- Appropriate methods
- Appropriate facilities
- Appropriate equipment – properly calibrated and maintained
- Appropriate testing procedures
- Quality Control procedures
- Traceability of measurements to national standards
- Document control
Quality provides the backbone for all laboratory processes and drives efficiency, consistency, and continuous improvement. Accreditation is a way for you to identify technical competence which assures you that the results provided are accurate and reliable.
Fluid Life is committed to providing the highest level of quality and service. All four of our labs (Edmonton, Irving, Brantford and Bloomington) are accredited by CALA to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and accreditation is limited to those tests on the laboratory scope of testing.