User:Shawndouglas/sandbox/sublevel15

From LIMSWiki
Jump to navigationJump to search

Sandbox begins below

Hohenstein Quality Testing.jpg

Title: How does ISO/IEC 17025 impact laboratories?

Author for citation: Shawn E. Douglas

License for content: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Publication date: TBD

Introduction

What ISO/IEC 17025 asks of laboratories

Gaps in ISO/IEC 17025

It's important to note that ISO/IEC 17025 does not cover compliance with laboratory safety requirements.[1][2] Labs implementing the standard may very well want to reach out to other QMS frameworks to fill the gaps, for example, implementing the "Facilities and Safety" quality system essential (QSE) found in Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute's (CLSI's) QMS01 A Quality Management System Model for Laboratory Services[3] and the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Laboratory Quality Management System: Handbook.[1] (A QSE, as defined by CLSI and WHO, is "a set of coordinated activities that serve as building blocks for quality management," with each needing to be "addressed if overall laboratory quality improvement is to be achieved."[1] Both organizations include 12 QSEs as part of their QMS framework and emphasize that all must be met for overall laboratory quality improvement to be realized.[1][4]) The "Facilities and Safety" QSE describes those elements that are essential to a laboratory's personnel, its design, and its safety in being able to prevent and control physical, chemical, and biological hazards from impacting operations. The WHO notes that addressing these elements through a laboratory safety program solidifies the lab's ability to provide quality data and services through protecting those in the lab, the facility, its equipment, and the work environment.[1]


Benefits of using ISO/IEC 17025

In its 2011 Laboratory Quality Management System: Handbook, the WHO notes the following concerning the QMS model[1]:

Laboratories not implementing a good quality management system are guaranteed that there will be many errors and problems occurring that may go undetected. Implementing a quality management system may not guarantee an error-free laboratory, but it does yield a high-quality laboratory that detects errors and prevents them from recurring.

Conclusion

References