If your lab has decided to apply for ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation as your state requires it or to demonstrate the reliability of your lab results to potential customers, you may think what next? Achieving and maintaining the necessary compliance such as ISO 17025:2017 accreditation is a time-consuming, costly, and complicated process.  It includes managing and tracking employee training and competency,  Standard Operating Protocol (SOP's) management, risk management, and instrument maintenance and calibration. An informatics solution such as Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) can make this job much easier.

Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) enables automation and ensures proper process control, tracks standard and laboratory-developed testing methods, manages instrument maintenance and calibration schedules, documents, staff training, and audits required to meet ISO 17025:2017. Besides, LIMS also offer instrument integration for rapid data capture and report generation, support electronic signatures in workflows, This, in turn, brings in efficiency, productivity and helps laboratories in consistently producing precise and accurate tests.

Learning Objectives: 

1. ISO 17025 Certification helps cannabis testing labs to prove their technical capabilities, strong commitment to quality, operational efficiency and management practices. The presentation will highlight both the management and technical requirements that a cannabis testing laboratory should meet in order to be ISO 17025: 2017 compliant.

2. As a part of ISO 17025: 2017 standards, laboratories are required to manage and maintain Standard Operating Protocol (SOPs), test methods,  test requests and testing instructions,  staff training,  and instrument maintenance and calibration. Managing all these requirements is important to maintain operational quality and efficiency in operations.  Therefore, the presentation will highlight where a LIMS can assist in creating a quality management system to follow ISO 17025 regulatory guidelines.