Quality Assurance to ISO 17025

ISO 17025 sets out the general requirements for calibration laboratories. They form the basis of accreditation schemes throughout the world. Accreditation is the formal recognition of a calibration or testing laboratory's competence to perform specific measurements.

Abstract:

Accreditation to ISO 17025 is rapidly becoming a requirement for calibration and testing laboratories to stay in business. The establishment of the required quality system and documentation often requires significant resources, and a time commitment that is measured in man-years.

The task is not only to establish a system, that is adequate and functional, it is also to design the system so it assists the laboratory in performing high quality work, without excessive, non-productive paperwork. Therefore it is very important that the necessary time is spent on training and planning before the work is started.

Since the quality of a measurement is expressed as its uncertainty, the quality system starts with the uncertainty budget for the calibrations and tests performed at the laboratory. The uncertainty budget identifies what needs to be protected and controlled to ensure the quality of the measurements. The task is then to build up a quality system, which provides these protections and controls and documents that they are in place.

Target audience:

Metrologists, Quality Engineers, Quality Managers, Metrology Managers, Auditors, Assessors etc. who are involved in either developing, working under, managing or auditing quality systems in calibration and testing laboratories.

Learning Objectives:

Upon successful completion of the seminar, the participants will be able to:

Set up a scope for a laboratory accreditation.
Understand the basics of developing uncertainty budgets according to the "Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement" (GUM)
Identify the required protections and controls to ensure the quality of measurements.
Develop useful documentation, that covers the requirements and assist the laboratory personnel in performing valid tests and calibrations.
Minimize the amount of non-productive paper work in the quality system.
Build the necessary technical arguments to defend their quality system.

Training Method:

The seminar consists of a mixture of lectures and practical exercises, giving the participants opportunity to plan a quality system, determine the scope of the documentation, critique and write procedures and argue for and against different approaches.

Class size is from 5 to 12 students, giving you ample opportunity to interact and ask questions. The seminar is designed to give you as much valuable information as possible while keeping you away from your company for as short a time as possible.

Recall Material:

Each participant will receive a comprehensive set of recall materials for easy application of their new skills back in the company.

Content:

The seminar covers the following topics:

The requirements of ISO 17025 - what does it say and what does it not say.
Determining the scope of an accreditation - what can be measured and to what uncertainty.
A crash course in uncertainty budgeting according to GUM.
Building a quality system - what is the purpose and how do you achieve it?
The different kinds of documentation and how they fit together.
Assigning responsibility - where does the buck stop?
Writing a procedure - what should be covered and what is too much?
Monitoring equipment and environment - what should be monitored and how?
Document control and document retention.
Working with the assessor and the accrediting body - how to make it a partnership instead of a conflict.
Examples and exercises.

Duration:

2 days, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm each day.

This seminar as a company course:

This seminar can be run as an on-site company seminar. This option is attractive if you and your team need to have a common background, or if you have several people across different functions, who need specific training.

The course can be tailored to your specific situation and special courses within my area of expertise can also be developed at relatively short notice.

Contact me for more information.