Get the changes right and positively impact your organisation
Updating your quality manual and procedures to meet the new ISO/IEC 17025:2017 can seem like a difficult and daunting task. Lab managers often tell us:
- We don’t have time to work through the NATA transition document and understand how it applies to us.
- The changes seem vague – how do we know if what we do will be good enough?
- We’re unsure what we are allowed to change in our manuals.
- The manual is structured by the clauses of the old ISO 17025 or ISO 9001: how do we work out where to put in a new requirement?
- I wrote the manual originally and I can’t see what needs to change.
These apparent roadblocks can leave managers and lab teams feeling stuck – in some cases, stressed. But what if all you needed was a second pair of eyes to turn your compliance homework into a fun and rewarding opportunity?
‘New’ standard = new possibilities
Pressed for time and resources, it can be tempting to just add some more words to the quality manual and hope that this satisfies NATA. If you’ve done this previously, you may now have a manual with too many vague statements. Such language is unlikely to engage your staff in the work of following, recording and reviewing your organisation’s processes.
Do you want a manual that your staff can easily understand and take pride in implementing? A document that goes beyond listing compliance requirements and actually boosts staff engagement in your quality system? Keep reading.
Rather than constantly overseeing and wondering if processes are being carried out in line with the standard, and everything is being documented, wouldn’t you love to confidently leave staff to do their work consistently with clear instructions, saving them time, and you money?
Your lab manual should be your most valuable document, helping your staff to implement processes and ensure that excellence is embedded into your entire operation.
We help you bake excellence into everything you do – including how you demonstrate this to NATA.
The standard exists to make your laboratory better, stronger and easier to operate. So tweaking your manual as an afterthought, for compliance’s sake only, misses the point of having accreditation. The new ISO 17025 is a golden opportunity to get the most out of your quality system and ultimately reduce unnecessary workloads or time-wasting.
For a breakdown of the significant changes to the standard and the reasons behind them check out this post on our blog page.
With a greater focus on risk and opportunity-assessment, the new standard is a chance to expand your approach to excellence. With the right strategy, the new ISO 17025 will help you build on what is working well in your organisation to create an outstanding future for your customers, business and staff.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to get the benefits of the new requirements – a leaner, better and more future-focused lab – while only targeting changes you really need to make?
Getting the transition to the new standard right is critical to your organisation, not just for the sake of your accreditation. It can really give you an edge when it comes to quality standards, reputation and business operations.
Not all lab and quality managers have the same skill-sets or time available to deal with the new standard. They also have different goals and available resources to dedicate to improvement. So we’ve created three options for you to choose from so that you can get just the right amount of help with the transition.
Our Promise
We are confident our recommendations will help you meet requirements efficiently and in a way that supports your organisational goals. We will follow up with you after your NATA assessment. In the rare case that changes are not accepted, we will advise on how to address the issues raised for no extra charge.
What people are saying about ISO 17025 Transition with confidence
How it works
Option 1 - Silver
Get on top of ISO 17025 changes
This option is a review of your quality system against the NATA ISO 17025 Transition Table. It provides clarity for those lab managers who have the time and inclination to update the manual themselves. We will advise on practical methods to address the new requirements with minimal disruption to your staff and organisation.
What we do:
- Deep dive into your system to identify the ways you’re already meeting requirements, thus avoiding unnecessary changes
- Show you how to leverage your system, building on the parts that are working well.
- Advice on practical ways to address any gaps where you may be falling short on addressing requirements, while not changing too much in your current system
What you get:
- A tailored report on invaluable opportunities ranked by priority to enable you to simplify and further improve your quality system
- A completed NATA ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Transition Table that you can send to NATA and keep as a reference to demonstrate how you meet the new requirements
- Confidence that you know what you need to do to meet the new standard
from $720*
*Prices quoted ex GST
Option 2 - Gold
Peace of mind that you are fully prepared for NATA
This option is a more detailed review of your quality management system against the complete ISO 17025:2017. It is suited to small to medium businesses that:
- have a quality manual and procedures that may be out-of-date or overly complicated,
- are too busy to update the documents themselves
- are seeking some overall improvements
If you need someone to do the heavy lifting to help your organisation meet the requirements in an optimal manner, while also improving your manual, this option is for you.
What we do:
- Identify where your quality management system meets the requirements and where there are gaps
- Advise on practical ways to address the new requirements without changing too much in your current system
- Edit your quality manual and procedures to meet the new requirements
- Report on further invaluable opportunities ranked by priority to empower you to simplify and further improve your quality system
What you get:
- A full gap analysis document against the ISO 17025 standard with suggestions to streamline or otherwise improve the content
- A draft of your quality manual with changes outlined for your final approval
- A completed NATA ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Transition Table that you can send to NATA and keep as a reference to demonstrate how you meet the new requirements
- Peace of mind that your quality system meets the new standard
- Extra confidence that your system and manual are working well
from $2250*
*Prices quoted ex GST
Option 3 - Platinum
Harness accreditation to advance your business goals
A complete rewrite of the quality manual and main procedures manuals to ensure your organisation has fully adopted the process-approach the new standard is aimed at.
What we do:
- Conduct detailed gap analysis against the full ISO 17025 standard
- Conduct a comprehensive on-site audit, overviewing the whole laboratory operation versus ISO 17025:2017.
- Draft changes to the quality manual and procedures to bring them up to date with your current processes and the new ISO17025.
- Work with you to develop list of opportunities ranked by priority to further simplify and refine your quality system
What you get:
- An OUTSTANDING, rigorous quality management system, written around your business processes and supportive of your business goals.
- Highly-relevant manuals that will be a well-thumbed reference document for your staff members and used in staff training and inductions
- Compliance with ISO 17025:2017 and a permanent truce with NATA (Now you will be absolutely confident that you are taking full advantage of your accreditation!)
- A full gap analysis document against the ISO 17025 standard that you can keep as a reference
- A completed NATA ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Transition Table that you can send to NATA and keep as a reference to demonstrate how you meet the new requirements
Our Platinum service is for the ambitious lab that wants a system built to support their operation and goals, rather than purely meeting NATA requirements.
from $4360*
*Prices quoted ex GST