Accreditation

Accreditation is the process by which an authorized body evaluates and approves whether an institution, program, or operational module complies with established standards and criteria. This process is voluntary and provides a quality infrastructure that supports the reliability and validity of conformity assessment activities such as testing, inspection, analysis, and certification. Accreditation is a systematic practice designed to ensure the acceptability of conformity assurance documents including test and inspection reports, calibration certificates, management system documentation, and product and personnel certification documents.

Quality Management in Accreditation (Generated by Artificial Intelligence)

Characteristics of Accreditation

While the specific characteristics of accreditation may vary from country to country, they share common features. The accreditation process involves scrutinizing an organization’s quality activities against defined criteria and expectations. Structural differences among organizations are recognized and respected by accreditation bodies. Accreditation provides assurance regarding the extent to which inspected organizations meet quality expectations. Accreditation processes are based on the principles of competence, impartiality and independence.

Benefits of Accreditation

The benefits of accreditation are multifaceted and extend to institutions, employees and society. For institutions, accreditation enhances public trust, enables evaluation of service outputs, ensures objective measurement of organizational performance, accelerates quality improvement efforts, supports the recruitment of professional staff and provides a framework for staff training. It can be used to meet government certification requirements, reduce costs and improve efficiency, support public relations and marketing activities, and facilitate collaboration with other service providers.

For employees, accreditation formally recognizes organizations that deliver high-quality services. It establishes mechanisms for evaluating organizational activities, fosters pride and loyalty toward the institution, strengthens internal communication, encourages active employee participation and contributes to recruitment processes. It makes organizational policies and practices concrete through documentation and helps raise the level of competence in operations.

The Accreditation Process

The accreditation process consists of four stages: application, assessment, decision and surveillance. During the application stage, information is requested, preliminary discussions are held, the application is formally submitted, recorded and documents are reviewed. In the assessment stage, assessors are selected and the organization’s consent is obtained. An assessment agreement is then signed, assessors are assigned and on-site assessments are conducted. In the decision stage, after the assessment report is prepared, corrective actions are reviewed and input is sought from the sector committee. Decision documents are reviewed and a board decision is made; an accreditation agreement is signed. At the end of the process, an accreditation certificate is issued and results are published on the website. During the surveillance stage, routine surveillance assessments are carried out and accreditation is renewed.

The International Dimension of Accreditation

National and regional accreditation bodies enter into mutual recognition agreements and collaborate on new legislation and standard development through membership in umbrella organizations and by forming accreditation alliances. Examples of such umbrella organizations are the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) for laboratory accreditation and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) for certification accreditation. Mutual recognition and harmonization with these umbrella organizations ensure a standardized approach to accreditation processes.

Illustration Related to Accreditation (Generated by Artificial Intelligence)

Standards and Technical Requirements

The TS EN ISO/IEC 17025 standard is the reference standard used in accreditation practices to specify general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. ISO/IEC 17025 has replaced ISO/IEC Guide 25 and EN 45001 and was published by the Turkish Standards Institute on 18 May 2000. The TS EN ISO/IEC 17025/2017 standard is structured around scope, referenced documents, terms and definitions, general requirements, structural requirements, resource requirements, process requirements and management system requirements. Under this standard, accreditation processes include organizing the structure of the organization, training personnel, developing work plans, preparing application lists, drafting quality manuals and procedures, creating instructions and forms, planning and implementing internal audits, preparing applications and developing assessment plans. Laboratories accredited under TS EN ISO/IEC 17025 ensure the reliability of their test and calibration results through the certificates and reports they issue.

The ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System standard was developed to align occupational health and safety practices with current legislation and regulations, ensure the proper conduct of audits and obtain reliable outcomes. The TS ISO 45001 standard was published in March 2018 with a three-year transition period for implementation. ISO 45001 is based on a risk-based approach and manages occupational health and safety processes. This standard requires risk assessments, planning of preventive actions for risk control, development and updating of emergency response scenarios, recording of work accidents and occupational diseases, continuous review of preventive actions, ongoing monitoring of legal requirements, establishment of the organization’s OHS policy by management and periodic health examinations for employees.

Turkish Accreditation Agency (TÜRKAK)

The Turkish Accreditation Agency was established on 27 October 1999 under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and possesses administrative and financial autonomy. TÜRKAK determines, applies and, when necessary, modifies or withdraws criteria related to accreditation. Organizations apply to TÜRKAK for evaluation against relevant standards and are granted or denied accreditation accordingly. Accredited organizations are subject to periodic surveillance assessments. TÜRKAK collaborates with international accreditation bodies within the framework of confidentiality and engages in education, research and publication activities.

Accreditation activities are carried out through the Directorate of Testing Accreditation and the Directorate of Calibration Accreditation. The Directorate of Testing Accreditation covers a broad range of sectors including laboratories operating in chemistry, environment, food, pharmaceuticals, forensic science and medical fields. It participates in committees and working groups in collaboration with international organizations, provides input on normative and guidance documents and is involved in developing and implementing training programs. The Directorate of Calibration Accreditation conducts assessments and accredits calibration laboratories and testing laboratories in the fields of electrical, mechanical and structural engineering in accordance with the TS EN ISO/IEC 17025 standard and guidance documents issued by international organizations.