ISO 17020:2012
ISO 17020
ISO 17020 is a standard that specifies an inspection body's competence and the objectivity and consistency of its inspection activities. Various bodies have developed ISO 17020 conformity assessment requirements to increase trust and consistency in their inspection activities.
ISO 17020 certification entails all actions taken by an inspection body, such as inspecting practices, procedures, and services to assess their conformity and reporting findings to the operation to foster trust in the organisations conducting the checks.
The initial categorisation of the inspection bodies took place in 1998 to enhance the inspection procedure. These categories were revised in 2012 and are as follows:
- Type A: An impartial inspection agency that only conducts inspections (independent of the parties involved)
- Type B: An inspection body that only performs inspections for the organisation that the inspection body is a part of
- Type C: An organisation that performs both first-party and second-party inspections, or both, and that is identifiable but does not necessarily provide inspection services to its parent organisation, other parties, or both.
BENEFITS OF ISO 17020 CERTIFICATION
ISO 17020 has several advantages. Some of the ISO 17020 benefits are listed below:
- Increases effectiveness of inspection processes
- Increases level of drive, cooperation, and skill
- Improves tool maintenance control
- Increases trust in inspection data
- Enhances credibility and recognition internationally
- Advises on how to analyse data
- Boosts customer trust in the quality of the results
- Gives an edge over the competition
- Helps gain market share
- Strengthens confidentiality
- Establishes your organisation among the top-quality inspection bodies in the global market
REQUIREMENTS FOR ISO 17020 CERTIFICATION
The ISO 17020 document of accreditation may be used as a prerequisite or screening document by any organisation desiring to perform inspections.
Some of the requirements of ISO 17020 are:
- For the activities to run smoothly, inspecting bodies must recognise and meet the standard requirements.
- Analysing the kind of examination that should be performed
- Choosing the type of evaluation based on how closely the standard is met
- Selecting knowledgeable and qualified individuals to carry out the inspection.
- Appointing technical and management personnel to analyse the technical requirements and manage the management system.
- Ensuring that the inspection report is thoroughly prepared and error-free.
- Analysing or studying the report to make sure it complies with the standards
PRINCIPLE OF ISO 17020 CERTIFICATION
Impartiality and Independence – Inspection activities must be impartial and the inspection body is responsible for the impartiality of its inspection activities and not allows commercial, financial or other activities to compromise impartiality. The inspection body must identify risks to its impartiality and effort should be made to maintain impartiality. The risks include risks from its own activities, or from its relationships, or from the relationships of its personnel. Be that as it may, such connections don’t really give an assessment body a hazard to fairness. A relationship that undermines the unprejudiced nature of the investigation body can be founded on proprietorship, administration, the board, work force, shared assets, accounts, contracts, showcasing (counting marking), and installment of a business commission or other prompting for the referral of new customers, and so forth.
If a risk to impartiality is identified, the inspection body must remove or reduce such risk. The top management of inspection bodies must be committed to impartiality.
Confidentiality – The inspection body must be responsible legally for the management of all information obtained or created during the performance of inspection activities. The examination body must illuminate the customer, ahead of time, of the data if going to unveil in open space aside from data that the customer makes freely accessible, or when concurred between the review body and the customer (for example to react to objections and other related issues), all other data is viewed as secret. At the point when the investigation body is legally necessary or approved by authoritative duties to unveil secret data, the customer or individual concerned must be, except if disallowed by law, be advised of the data furnished and the condition manage. Data about the customer acquired from sources other than the customer (for example complainant, controllers) likewise be treated as private.
