Impartiality and confidentiality under ISO/IEC 17025
The 2017 edition made impartiality a first-class requirement: laboratories must identify risks to it on an ongoing basis and show how they are managed.
Clause 4.1 requires laboratory activities to be undertaken impartially and structured and managed to safeguard impartiality. The laboratory must identify risks to impartiality arising from its activities, relationships or the relationships of its personnel, and eliminate or minimise them.
Common risk sources
- Calibrating equipment the same organisation manufactures, sells or services.
- Incentives tied to pass rates or throughput.
- Personnel calibrating instruments they also use in production.
Confidentiality
Clause 4.2 requires the laboratory to be responsible, through legally enforceable commitments, for the management of all information obtained or created. Customers must be informed in advance of information the laboratory intends to place in the public domain, and told when information is released because of legal obligation.
Frequently asked questions
- Can an in-house laboratory be impartial?
- Yes, if the risks are identified and managed — typically through organisational separation, defined authorities and records showing how conflicts were handled.
References
- [1]ISO/IEC 17025:2017 — General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories
General technical guidance written against the cited sources. It is not regulatory or legal advice and does not replace the applicable standard, guideline or a qualified reviewer's judgement.
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