INAB, the Irish NAB, published an article regarding their 35th year in Accreditation.

Irish National Accreditation Board celebrates 35th year in Accreditation

BACKGROUND

In 1985, INAB then known as the Irish Laboratory Accreditation Board, was established to provide accreditation to Ireland. Initially, our activities focussed on laboratory testing only.  Since then INAB has extended our activities and our multilateral agreements to cover testing, medical examination, calibration, product and management certification, inspection and reference materials. INAB also manages the GLP programme in Ireland.

INAB came under new management in 2008, when Dr Adrienne Duff took the helm following Tom Dempsey’s retirement.

Since 2014 in HSA, we have introduced numerous changes in how we deliver the accreditation service. The most significant change is the introduction of our customer relationship management system (CRM) which manages our applications and the maintenance of accreditation and associated activities electronically. INAB is now almost a 100% paperless office. The INAB Board papers, invoicing, information updates, our newsletter are all now provided electronically.

INAB is active in all the accreditation standards below

• ISO 17025 testing and calibration laboratories
• ISO 17065, certification bodies certifying products
• ISO 17020, inspection bodies
• ISO 15189, medical examinations
• ISO 17021-1, certification bodies certifying management systems, EMAS verifiers
• ISO 17034, reference material producers
• ISO 17024, certification bodies certifying persons

THE INTERNATIONAL FRAMEWORK

One thing that has held strong for INAB has been its continuation to maintain its high standards and to continue to maintain and extend our activities under the multilateral agreements at European and International levels. INAB will apply to extend our MLA status for accreditation for the certification of persons in 2021 and greenhouse gas verifiers in 2022.

Ireland was part of the first group of countries to establish an accreditation system in Europe.

During this time INAB received significant support from other national accreditation bodies and was involved in the formation of the European co-operation for Accreditation (EA) as a member of its executive committee. INAB through its executive functions in EA was also significantly involved in establishing the global infrastructure for accreditation through ILAC and IAF.

Demand for Accreditation in Ireland

The growth for accreditation has increased gradually for INAB and we currently have 230 accredited clients. The 27 new applications received in 2020 demonstrate accreditation remains relevant and valuable to Irish organisations. The main areas of testing accredited in Ireland include chemical, biological and veterinary and construction, with smaller numbers accredited in electrical and forensic testing. The metrological traceability underpinning all this testing is secured through the calibration laboratories for mass, volume, electrical, dimension, temperature and flow. Medical examinations are performed for diagnostic, public health and national screening purposes.

In medical examination laboratories, the majority of our Irish 15189 laboratories are accredited for blood transfusion, haematology, chemical pathology, histopathology and cytopathology and immunology – with some extending their scopes in genetics and assisted reproduction.

Certification bodies certify products, food and security installations against quality and safety standards. Additionally certification bodies areas issuing accredited certificate for management systems such as quality (ISO 9001), environmental (ISO 14001), energy management (ISO 50001), health and safety management (ISO 45001), food safety (ISO 22001) and medical device (ISO 13485).

Accredited inspection is active in the areas of farming and food production, asbestos surveys, the built environment and car testing.

Reference material producers manufacture materials traceable to international standards, while personnel certification bodies are certifying individuals for activity under the pressure equipment directive.

INAB is offering new areas of accredited activity in response to market demand such as audiology and autopsy services.  We are looking to fully implement new accreditation standards in the fields of biobank (ISO 20387) and validation/verification (ISO 17029). We must also be able to respond to changes in technology, robotics and artificial intelligence in order to anticipate and meet future market demands.

The future

The remainder of 2020 and into 2021 will see INAB develop a national accreditation strategy for Ireland. This will be the first time such a strategy has been in place and it is an opportunity to frame and direct accreditation over the next 5 years.  We look forward to extending our activity range into new exciting schemes.  Although considered a small national accreditation body, we have put Ireland and our clients on the accreditation global map.

Much has changed since we started thirty five years ago and we look forward to continuing to grow and meet future demands.