Clause 4:
General Requirements
Clause 4: General Requirements is broken down into 2 subclauses:
4.1 Impartiality
Impartiality is a major clause in ISO/IEC 17025. This clause addresses the risks associated with creating biased results. Under no circumstance is the lab allowed to let conflict of interest impact its results, and the lab must be committed to risk-based thinking when addressing impartiality. In essence, there must not be any conflict of interest regarding the following:
- commercial interest
- financial interest
- relationship interest
And the laboratory must identify risks to impartiality from:
- activities
- relationships
- personal relationships
The lab must identify any risk to impartiality on an ongoing basis. If a risk or impartiality is identified, the lab must take corrective action and demonstrate how it has eliminated or minimized the risk.
4.2 Confidentiality
Clause 4.2 of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 discusses the requirements involving confidentiality. The lab is responsible for the management of all information obtained or created during laboratory activities and is held responsible by legal enforcement. The standard requires that the lab must inform its customer in advance of what information it intends to share with the public. Furthermore, it addresses actions it will take if confidential information is released into the public. Confidentially requirement also encompasses laboratory personnel. In general, the laboratory and its personnel are responsible for the information obtained or created during the performance of laboratory activities, and all information is considered proprietary information and shall be regarded as confidential, with exception to what is required by law.
Please note that certain text from the ISO 17025 standard is only used for instructional purposes. Standard Stores recognizes and respects the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) copyright and intellectual property guidelines.
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