Laboratories and analytics-based businesses around the world know about the ISO/IEC 17025 standard. This standard deals with the regulations for the competence of testing and calibration in laboratories. Organizations that have laboratories and even those that deal with third-party labs can benefit from implementing this standard. Focused on testing and calibration, businesses that want their services to stand out can rely on the seal of approval that ISO/IEC 17025 compliance offers to their business processes. 

Management systems within a lab need to adhere to strict guidelines. The standard establishes the procedures for administration, technical competence, and the quality of results. By implementing the standard, a lab can clearly define objectives for the staff to work towards ensuring process improvement. Not only does it improve the efficiency of these processes, but it also allows the company to stand out from its competition.

Both companies that deliver third-party lab results and departments within larger corporations can benefit from ISO/IEC 17025 compliance. Accreditation allows these labs to state that their processes are in keeping with international standards. Thanks to its flexibility, the standard has been adopted in both private industry as well as government laboratories to establish their operating guidelines and what they expect from their processes. By adhering to the standard, laboratories in other parts of the world can rely on results from another ISO/IEC certified lab. They can expect to reproduce their results given the same raw materials and experiment criteria.

The standard establishes a baseline for the processes within a Lab. Everything from the administration to the use of equipment is outlined in the document. Complying with the regulations allows a lab to see significant benefits in its process efficiency. Among the most substantial benefits that ISO/IEC 17025 compliance offers to businesses include:

• Proper documentation: As a prerequisite for most ISO standards, documentation needs to be accurate and organized. ISO/IEC 17025 is no exception, and labs have organized and efficient documentation for all of their in-house practices, ensuring that all personnel is aware of how each aspect functions.
• Efficient management system: The management system that the standard implements ensure that the company or department utilizes its available resources most effectively. There are no wasted resources that could be better used.
• Well-Maintained Testing/Calibration Environment: Testing/Calibration environments need to be constantly maintained to avoid introducing contaminants that may impact the integrity of results. The standard has guidelines to help labs ensure that their testing/calibration grounds are appropriately maintained between use.

• Confidence in results: The ISO/IEC 17025 standards allow for labs to have more confidence in their results and ensures that other labs can reproduce those results within a reasonable tolerance.

ISO/IEC 17025 is a vital part of any laboratory’s registration. Not only does the standard ensure that the lab follows international best practices, but it also outlines the standards that other labs follow worldwide. The accreditation that ISO/IEC 17025 brings to a business helps ensure that the lab’s results are beyond question. In many jurisdictions, this accreditation may mean the difference between securing contracts and losing them to better-qualified competition.

At its heart, the ISO/IEC 17025 is a quality management system explicitly implemented for laboratories. It reflects many of the exact requirements as the ISO 9001 standard but makes it apply specifically to laboratories. It’s no surprise that part of the accreditation process for ISO/IEC 17025 has a working QMS. If you’re interested in exploring ISO/IEC 17025, you’re welcome to contact Sync Resource at your earliest convenience to learn more. Our advisors can help your lab achieve the requirements to get accredited. Contact us now to find out how!