Making Certain with UKAS Accreditation

In the marketplace for environmental sampling and analysis, competition is fierce with many organisations vying for work based upon cost and turnaround time. Whilst these factors are important considerations for any business, low cost fast turnaround are of no use if the quality of data is poor and it subsequently gets rejected by the end user or regulator.

Procurers of environmental sampling and analysis services need assurances that the organisations they employ are technically competent and can and will deliver to the right level of quality. Traditionally, many procurers have relied upon certification to ISO 9001 as a demonstration of the competence of their suppliers. However, although accredited certification to ISO 9001 provides confidence in the organisations’ management systems, ISO 9001 is not a technical standard.

This means that any certification to it cannot provide confidence in the technical competence of the organisations providing environmental sampling and analysis services, and therefore does not provide full confidence in the validity and suitability of the data they produce. Since its publication in 1999 the international standard ISO/IEC 17025 ‘General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories’ has been recognised as the standard for this area.

Accreditation of an organisation to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard, provided by a nationally appointed accreditation body, is the route by which procurers and regulators of environmental sampling and analysis services can have confidence in the organisations competence and compliance. Ultimately, then, this is also the route that provides the confidence in the quality and validity of data produced.

Alongside ensuring that organisations have appropriate quality management systems helping ensure good customer service, accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 requires that organisations determine robustly the technical and service requirements of their customers. It further ensures they have the technical and resource capability to meet these requirements. Additionally, on going quality control ensures that the validity and accuracy of data produced by accredited organisations is maintained on a continuous basis.

UKAS is the sole accreditation body recognised by the UK Government to assess, against internationally recognised standards, organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services. Accreditation is an impartial, rigorous and ongoing process and being accredited by UKAS demonstrates the competence, impartiality and performance capability of organisations or individuals that provide these evaluations.

By engaging the services of an organisation that is accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 in either the Stack Emissions Monitoring, Soil Analysis or Water Sampling and Analysis sectors, procurers can ensure they will receive a service that is fit for purpose and meets regulatory requirements.

UKAS has over 20 years’ experience in providing training for laboratory staff and 10 years’ experience in certification and inspection body staff training in the UK and overseas. UKAS’ courses accommodate many different training needs. Further details and schedules of accreditation for organisations which contain details of specific activities which are covered by accreditation, can be found at www.ukas.com