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LGC, a global leader in the life sciences sector, with a comprehensive range of reference materials, proficiency testing schemes and research and measurement services, held a number of seminars in India in September to support laboratories in the effective use of proficiency testing (PT).
Laboratory Analysts and Quality Managers from industries as diverse as Food, Pharmaceutical, Environmental, Clinical and Petroleum attended the events in Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad, which were also supported by the Indian Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories, (NABL). NABL presented on the importance of using an accredited PT provider at the opening seminar in Delhi.
In this article we share the learnings from the seminar on the benefits of PT, and how it fits into the laboratory quality process.
Laboratory Quality and the importance of ISO/IEC 17025
Critical decisions such as the release of a batch of pharmaceuticals and the absence of toxins in food are made every day based on laboratory data. But how can we have confidence that the results produced by those laboratories are reliable? The accreditation of a laboratory to a standard reviewed by a recognised third party provides this assurance, and in the case of measurement and testing laboratories, the relevant standard is ISO/IEC 17025 – General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories.
With increasing regulation and technical advances, as well as growing demands by consumers for ever higher quality, the requirement for reliable testing continues to grow, and with this, the growth of the use of the ISO/IEC 17025 standard. In 2010, the number of testing laboratories worldwide accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 totalled around 30,000. In 2018, this number had nearly doubled to over 58,000 (Fig 1). Growth in India has been even more dramatic. In 2008 there were 616 laboratories accredited for testing by the India NABL, and by 2018 this had grown nearly 5 times to 3,059 (source NABL 201906040254-NABL-400-doc).
ISO/IEC 17025 2017 describes a number of criteria for laboratories to ensure the competence of their testing, such as adequately trained personnel, appropriate physical facilities and well-maintained equipment. It also includes a number of quality control procedures to ensure the validity of test results, including the use of reference mat
