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Procedure · SOP-28

Impartiality and Confidentiality

Structural safeguards, declarations, risk identification and handling of confidential information.

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Purpose

To define the structural and procedural safeguards by which the Laboratory ensures the impartiality of its activities and the confidentiality of customer information, identifies and manages risks to impartiality, and responds to pressures that could compromise the objectivity of results.

What is inside

10 sections, about 4 pages when printed.

  1. 1. Purpose
  2. 2. Scope
  3. 3. References
  4. 4. Definitions
  5. 5. Responsibilities
  6. 6. Procedure
  7. Records generated by this procedure
  8. Monitoring and performance indicators
  9. Assessment readiness notes
  10. Related documents

Records it generates

Applying this procedure produces the following records, which are the evidence an assessor samples.

  • –Impartiality risk assessment and annual review
  • –Signed declarations
  • –Records of conflicts, pressures and their resolution
  • –Authorised disclosures of confidential information
  • –Non-disclosure agreements

What an assessor looks for

The document closes with these points, so you can check your own practice before someone else does.

  • –Interviewing engineers and sales staff about what they would do if a customer pressed for a pass, and whether they know the reporting route.
  • –Reading the impartiality risk assessment for specificity to this Laboratory's actual ownership and relationships.
  • –Checking how work on sister-company or supplier products is safeguarded.
  • –Checking declarations are signed and reviewed.
  • –Testing confidentiality controls: visitor logs, screen locks, certificate distribution.

Before you use it

  • Replace every square-bracket token, starting with [LABORATORY NAME], [ADDRESS] and [EFFECTIVE DATE]. The full token list is in GD-01 Read Me First.
  • Have the content technically reviewed against how your laboratory actually works, then approved by the responsible manager before it becomes a controlled document.
  • Update the Word fields after editing so the table of contents and page numbers are correct: select all, then press F9.
  • Record the document in your own document register and set its review date.
  • Delete the assessment readiness notes if you do not want them in your controlled version; they are guidance for you, not requirements.

Related documents

This is an original template published by ValiTrac. It does not reproduce the text of ISO/IEC 17025 or of any accreditation body publication, and it does not by itself confer or guarantee accreditation. Customise, review and approve it before use.