Forensic Access: Quality Standards, Certification and Accreditation
Forensic Access' Commitment To Quality
Forensic Access Limited is committed to implementing and maintaining internationally recognised quality systems as part of its commitment to providing quality forensic science services to its customers.
The assurance of quality is fundamental to all the work undertaken by Forensic Access and the established procedures as practised by all personnel at every level in the company’s structure.
Accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025:2005
ISO/IEC 17025:2005 is for use by laboratories in developing their management system for quality, administrative and technical operations. Laboratory customers, regulatory authorities and accreditation bodies may also use it in confirming or recognizing the competence of laboratories.
The standard specifies the general requirements for the competence to carry out tests and/or calibrations, including sampling.
In support of the Criminal Justice System, UKAS accreditation not only provides authoritative assurance of the technical competence of a laboratory to undertake specified analyses but also reviews particular aspects relevant to the Criminal Justice System, for example, continuity of evidence, management of case files, storage of exhibits. In addition accreditation determines the competence of staff, the validity and suitability of methods, the appropriateness of equipment and facilities, and the ongoing assurance through internal quality control.
In May 2010 UKAS (the United Kingdom Accreditation Service) awarded Forensic Access accreditation under ISO 17025 for the search, testing and identification of blood and semen, and their recovery for subsequent DNA analysis. Forensic Access has since been accredited for additional activities and has extended its scope to include Recovery of DNA using minitaping. See our Schedule Of Accreditation on the UKAS website.
Forensic Access is the first of the defence-based forensic science providers to receive accreditation to ISO 17025 - an achievement of which we are very proud. See our Press Release announcing our successful accreditation.
Certification to ISO 9001:2008
ISO 9001 is the internationally recognised standard for the quality management of businesses; it prescribes the systematic control of activities to ensure that customers’ needs and expectations are met.
The standard applies to the processes that create and control the products and services an organisation supplies in order to fulfil the customer's quality requirements and applicable regulatory requirements, while aiming to enhance customer satisfaction, and achieve continual improvement of its performance in pursuit of these objectives.
Customer satisfaction is one of our top priorities and Forensic Access has held the ISO 9001 certification since 2004.
For any further details or questions about our quality certification or accreditation, please contact our Quality Manager, Kathy Clarke: kathy.clarke@forensic-access.co.uk.
