The NAB-MALTA held its 4th ISO/IEC17025 Awareness training on 13th and 14th February in collaboration with the Malta Laboratories Network and the Academy for Patient Centred Excellence and Innovation in Regulatory Sciences within the Malta Medicines Authority.
The course was opened by the Hon. Dr. Deo Debattista who stressed on the importance of such events. He said that these also present opportunities for fostering collaboration and sharing of ideas in science. These sentiments were echoed by Prof Serracino Inglott, Chairman of the Medicines Authority.
One of the objectives of this course was to encourage the local laboratory community to start preparing and implementing a system which complies with EN ISO/IEC 17025. This is an international standard establishing general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. It is applicable to all organisations performing laboratory activities such as testing, calibration and sampling, regardless of the number of personnel. It establishes general requirements for the competence, impartiality and consistent operation of laboratories. It enables them to operate competently and to generate valid and reliable results.
The learning objectives were:- appreciate the scope, structure and contents of ISO/IEC 17025
- discuss the concepts and principles behind ISO/IEC 17025: 2017
- understand the benefits and relevance of conforming to ISO/IEC 17025: 2017
- understand how to meet the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025: 2017
- understand the laboratory accreditation process
- understand the important differences between ISO/IEC 9001 certification and ISO/IEC17025 accreditation.
At the end of the course, a brief explanation of the accreditation process was provided. Accreditation is the process by which laboratory can be independently assessed by the NAB-MALTA according to the requirements of the standard.
The participants were from both the private and public sectors. This constituted an interesting mix which resulted in very interesting discussions during the course.
Should you be interested to participate in future sessions of this training you may wish to send an email to info@nabmalta.org.mt.
