Why ISO 17025 Certification is Essential for Your Lab’s Success

An international standard known as ISO/IEC 17025:2017 outlines the standards for competency and quality in testing and calibration laboratories. As per the guideline, these labs must prioritize high-quality procedures and create a dependable quality management system in order to prove their proficiency.

Since the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission jointly established the certification, the complete standard is known as ISO/IEC 17025. When discussing the standard, many people reduce it to ISO 17025 or just ISO 17025 certification.

In the end, ISO 17025 is for any company that does sampling, testing, or calibration and needs to know that the outcomes are reliable. To put it simply, if you operate in a testing environment where quantifiable outcomes are produced, then ISO 17025 is probably applicable.  This may even imply that you don’t consider your space to be a “lab,” yet if you are generating quantifiable outcomes, you would fall within ISO definition of a laboratory.

Does ISO/IEC 17025 have to be followed by testing and calibration labs?

Although ISO/IEC 17025 is not required, it is strongly advised worldwide. Perhaps it would be wiser to consider if you can afford to lose your accreditation, particularly if the accuracy—or rather, the inaccuracy—of your results could have major repercussions. It pays to have this guarantee of the validity and dependability of your results, regardless of whether your findings determine the safety of construction materials or offer crucial information to the forensics industry as part of significant investigations.

Cooperation between laboratories and other organizations is further facilitated by ISO 17025 certification. A globally recognized standard will enable results to be accepted more widely across national boundaries, negating the need for additional testing in countries where test reports and certificates are accepted. This significantly enhances and facilitates global trade.

Better data sharing is enabled, which is another noteworthy benefit. A larger pool of data to work from across numerous industries will result from more laboratories doing the same tests to the same standards across international borders. We are beginning to realize the enormous advantages of having access to more data as the 2020s go by. A global drive toward using AI prediction models and better understanding shared dangers for consistent data is greatly aided by the adoption of certifications like ISO/IEC 17025.

What are the benefits of ISO 17025 accreditation?

Being certified in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025 has several significant advantages. This comprises:

• The caliber of your procedures and the dependability of your outcomes are guaranteed to institutions worldwide.
• You satisfy the increasing need for data that is consistent across borders.
• It is possible to improve your reputation both domestically and abroad.
• Complying with such a standard is frequently required in order to submit a tender application.
• You have a much better chance of becoming a preferred partner with both new and existing clients.
• Possess a distinct advantage against rivals lacking ISO 17025 accreditation
• You’ll be held to the same reputational level as rivals who have previously obtained accreditation.
• By putting more effective procedures into place and minimizing costly errors, you may cut costs.
• Time is  saved as numerous time-consuming tasks are automated.
• By proactively managing risks, possible harm to equipment and services is prevented.
• Within your organization, centrally stored papers and critical data establish a single source of truth.
• You’ll be prepared to strive for ongoing development and produce favorable outcomes for a variety of KPIs.

Ending 

The best course of action, if you’re persuaded of the advantages of ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, is to provide yourself with all the resources necessary to obtain and uphold accreditation. We conducted a series of webinars on the most typical reasons why labs fail to comply with ISO/IEC 17025.