Advanced Toxicology Analysis Laboratory

Certificate of Accreditation

What Is Accreditation?
Accreditation is a quality infrastructure created in order to support the reliability and validity of conformity verification documents (test and examination reports, calibration certificates, management system documentation, product documentation, personnel documents, etc.) prepared by conformity assessment bodies. Accreditation of conformity assessment bodies is carried out on the basis of relevant industry-specific requirements and requirements designated in guidelines by regional or international accreditation organizations, worldwide accepted qualification criteria on international standards for the relevant conformity assessment bodies.   
TS EN ISO/IEC 17025 Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories
Accreditation organizations recognizing the technical competence of the experimental laboratories shall base the accreditation of these laboratories on ISO/IEC 17025.
TS EN ISO/IEC 17025 Standard includes general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories, as well as a laboratory's technical proficiency and ability to produce technically accurate and reliable results. Through the introduction of a single standard as an indicator of laboratory competence at the international level, it is aimed testing and calibration laboratories anywhere in the world to compete with each other at the same level. Because of the international validity of the test reports or calibration certificates, this condition provides a wider market, in other words a wider customer base for the laboratory accredited according to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard.
Many countries in the world determine the technical competence of laboratories with the help of the accreditation systems. There may be one or more accreditation organizations in a country. In our country, Turkish Accreditation Organization (TÜRKAK) is commissioned with Article Nr 4457 to accredit laboratories. Today, accreditation of testing laboratories is based on the TS EN ISO/IEC 17025 Standard. These standards are accepted worldwide. The items of the aforementioned standard lay out the general conditions of a laboratory's quality management system and technical competence.
According to this standard, laboratories accredited are inspected periodically by the accreditation organization, and the continuation of accreditation is decided according to the result.
For the continuation of accreditation, laboratories have to participate in the comparison and proficiency test programs related to the accreditation, and to receive successful results.
Key principles for ISO17025:

• Internal Quality Control Schemes
• Competence tests or inter-laboratory comparison tests
• Operation instructions or Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• The use of standard reference materials or quality control in the laboratory by using sub-references
• The use of appropriately maintained and calibrated instruments
• Validated methods
• Reporting of measurement uncertainty
• Quality staff
• Recording and reporting

Although it is not compulsory to be accredited according to TS EN ISO/IEC 17025:2005 Standard, it is impossible for laboratories that are not accredited; i.e. laboratories that are not able to show that they produce valid technical results; to be accepted as reliable and to compete commercially with laboratories accredited.  
ACCREDITATION proves that a laboratory has technical competence and produce valid technical results both nationally and internationally. 
The requirements of the ISO 17025 standard consist of two main sections:

1. Management Requirements: Describe the conditions necessary for the execution of a quality system.
   In this context
   • Organization
   • Management system
   • Document control
   • Review of requests, tenders and contracts
   • Subcontracting of tests and calibrations
   • Purchasing services and supplies
   • Service to the customer
   • Complaints
   • Control of nonconforming testing and/or calibration work
   • Improvement
   • Corrective action
   • Preventive action
   • Control of records
   • Internal audits
   • Management reviews
2. Technical Requirements: It includes the requirements for staff competence, methodologies, equipment testing and calibration, and test methods 
   In this context:
   • Personnel
   • Accommodation and environmental conditions
   • Test and calibration methods and method validation
   • Equipment
   • Measurement traceability
   • Sampling
   • Handling of test and calibration items
   • Assuring the quality of the test and calibration results
   • Reporting the results

Advantages of ISO17025:

1. Through the introduction of a single standard as an indicator of laboratory competence at the international level, it is aimed testing and calibration laboratories anywhere in the world to compete with each other at the same level.
2. A product or service with a compliance certificate issued by a compliance assessment authority inculcates confidence that the applicable requirements for this product or service are provided.
3. Through this systematic, accreditation contributes to the removal of technical barriers in trade
4. Because of the international validity of the test reports or calibration certificates, this condition provides a wider market, in other words a wider customer base for the laboratory accredited according to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard.