What is ISO 17025:2005 – General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories?
ISO 17025 addresses every element of laboratory management. It is not exclusive to the laboratory manager, assistant laboratory manager, or quality manager. The standard involves all laboratory staff whose functions relate to the quality of laboratory data generated. The ISO management system will provide a defined, ordered process for operating all facets of a laboratory. The laboratory community throughout the world has expressed, through the International Organization for Standardization, the essential elements for a laboratory management system in the text of ISO 17025. That document provides the nucleus for most laboratory accreditation programs today. ISO 17025 provides the framework for a Quality Management System for a testing or calibration laboratory. ISO 17025 provides a framework for the special needs of organizations that want to control their laboratory processes and are seeking to achieve an independent, external accreditation. Based upon ISO 9001, but written for the pa
