Accreditation to ISO 17025:2005 for the Radioactivity Metrology Group of the UK’s National Physical Laboratory

Abstract

In the mid 1990s, the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) took the decision to seek external accreditation to the then UK national accreditation standard (M10, M10 supplement and M11) through the NPL’s National Measurement Accreditation Service (NAMAS). This paper details the reasoning behind that initial decision and, in particular, how this impinged on the day-to-day activities of the NPL’s Radioactivity Metrology Group (RMG). In the intervening decade, the accreditation standard has changed considerably; accreditation is now to the international standards ISO 9001:2000 (Quality Management Systems: Requirements) and ISO 17025:2005 (General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories); accreditation is now carried out by a wholly separate successor organization to NAMAS, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). To meet the new accreditation requirements the RMG: realigned it’s scope of work; streamlined and consolidated written procedures, references and appendices; centralized the collection of written procedures, and clarified the document identification system. Future developments will include efforts for RMG accreditation for conducting proficiency tests and providing reference materials.