ISO 17043:2023 Standard
The general requirements for the creation, management, and expertise of proficiency testing scheme providers are outlined in ISO/IEC 17043. These specifications can serve as the basis for more detailed technical specifications for particular domains and are meant to be general for all types of proficiency testing schemes. It is commonly acknowledged that proficiency testing (PT) is a crucial instrument for proving the expertise of conformity assessment bodies. PT can demonstrate expertise and act as a warning sign for hidden or developing issues. The goal of the ISO 17043:2023 documents helps to increase trust in how PT providers conduct their business. It includes specifications for PT providers so they may prove their proficiency and ability to produce reliable assessments of participant performance. The following parties can utilise and comply with ISO 17043 international standard:
- Testing and calibration laboratories
- Legal regulation by governments and regional agreements
- Industrial and professional standards
The proficiency testing (PT) version of the ISO 17043:2023 standard was released in its second edition by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). An expert group comprised of individuals chosen by their respective national standards bodies prepared the revised versions of the standard. A few modifications have been made to the standard’s technical specifications. For all conformity assessment documents to comply with the most recent ISO criteria, there have been numerous adjustments made. In addition, many of the structural criteria of the new standard are more closely aligned with those of ISO/IEC 17025:2017. For PT providers with labs or who provide reference materials, the majority of these changes will be familiar.
On May 8, 2023, the conformity assessment standard ISO/IEC 17043, General Requirements for the Competence of Proficiency Testing Providers, was released. The standard review process started in 2020, and the final voting started in January 2023. The original edition, ISO/IEC 17043:2010, is replaced by this revision, which is the second edition of the standard. By emphasising in the Introduction that PT can be applied to any aspect of conformity assessment, the new document, in a significant way, acknowledges the applications of PT outside of testing and calibration. There are now accredited PT programmes that present difficulties in the areas of inspection, sample, result interpretation, and individual competency. The first version (ISO/IEC 17043:2010), which has been technically amended, has been revoked and replaced by this second edition.
The Reasons Behind the ISO/IEC 17043 Revisions:
- Add fresh CASCO common elements
- Editorial alterations to illustrative Annexes
- Clarify the PT for inspection and sampling in the technical specifications
- Align with other CASCO standards, including ISO 13528, Statistical Methods, ISO/IEC 17025, General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories, and ISO 17034
- Update the management system’s structure, bibliographies, and other components that are out-of-date
- Modernise the symbols used in statistical calculations
The key changes to ISO/IEC 17043 standard:
- Extending the definition of PT to include inspection and sampling in addition to the presently listed test and calibration as additional forms of conformity assessment activities
- Harmonisation with the new ISO/IEC 17025 standard, including the formal specifications in accordance with the definitions, phrases, and symbols used in statistics in ISO 13528:2016
- Combination of requirements from ISO/CASCO PROC 33
- Including the need that testing, calibration, and the production of PT items adhere to the pertinent requirements of the pertinent ISO conformity assessment standards
- Risk-based thinking is introduced in the updated standard
- Removal of Annex C and revision of Annexes A and B (Informative)
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