Laboratory Accreditation According to Standard HRN EN ISO/IEC 17025
HRN EN ISO/IEC 17025 is an international standard that establishes general requirements for testing and calibration laboratories according to which they can initiate a standardized management system and verify their competence for testing, calibration and sampling which they might carry out in their field of work.
This standard sets requirements for technical competence, quality management and systematic monitoring of laboratory activities. It is used for the accreditation of laboratories, which ensures their expertise and reliability in providing testing and/or calibration services. It is applicable to all types of laboratories and helps them with maintaining quality, as well as with administrative and technical tasks.
The Croatian Accreditation Agency (HAA) is an independent and non-profit public institution and the national accreditation service of the Republic of Croatia. Most often, laboratories come to apply standards to achieve the status of an accredited body. As accredited laboratories, they have formal proof of their qualifications, which is easily shown to clients and regulatory authorities that can allow them to carry out certain activities. Accreditation is the easiest way for a laboratory to prove that it meets all the necessary quality requirements.
There are also laboratories that decide to apply the standard for their own benefit, to make sure that their work is recognized on the market regardless of formal accreditation. Whatever the reason for a laboratory deciding to comply with the requirements of HRN EN ISO/IEC 17025 in its work, the first step to fulfilling that task is to become familiar with the requirements of this standard.
The standard contains requirements related to impartiality and confidentiality, structural requirements, requirements regarding the responsibilities of laboratory personnel and their training, use of suitable facilities and environmental conditions, management of laboratory equipment, calibration of equipment, measurement traceability, management of externally provided products and services, process requirements, the review of requests, tenders and contracts, the selection, verification and validation of methods, sampling, handling of test or calibration items, management of technical records, evaluation of measurement uncertainty, assurance of result validity and the presentation of results.
Maintaining the management system according to the requirements of the standard is no easier than establishing the system itself. Over time, further improvement is continuously expected of the laboratory. In addition, as the laboratory increases its understanding of the meaning of the requirements, it finds better ways of applying them to achieve its final goal, providing clients with reliable and accurate test results in a clear, transparent and understandable way.

