The output of laboratories is critical for those making decisions based on the data they produce. Poor data from laboratories leads to poor decisions which may have catastrophic personal or financial impacts on the people or organizations affected by those decisions. The competence of organizations to perform specific inspections, tests, measurements or calibrations should, therefore, be an issue of fundamental interest to both the clients of laboratories and their own management and staff.
What is Accreditation?
Accreditation is a voluntary, third party-reviewed process. As part of accreditation, a laboratory's quality management system is thoroughly evaluated on a regular basis to ensure continued technical competence and compliance with ISO/IEC 17025. Laboratory accreditation can only be granted by an accreditation body.
ISO/IEC 17025 was first issued in 1999 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). It is the single most important standard for calibration and testing laboratories around the world. Laboratories that are accredited to this international standard have demonstrated that they are technically competent and able to produce precise and accurate test and/or calibration data.
MAURITAS (The Mauritius Accreditation Service) is the sole national authority in Mauritius for granting accreditation to conformity assessment bodies involved in calibration, testing, inspection and certification and is a member of ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation).