We are pleased to announce that WHA International has been officially accredited by PJLA in accordance with the international standard ISO/IEC 17025:2017. This new accreditation demonstrates that WHA’s testing laboratory services meet the highest level of international quality control.

The  ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation process

In June 2019, WHA became ISO 9001:2015 certified. This was the first step in an organization-wide review that optimized our quality management system. A portion of the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation requires a quality management system and then adds a new layer of requirements specific to testing and calibration laboratories, which cover:

• Impartiality and confidentiality
• Structural requirements of the organization
• Resource requirements, which include personnel, facilities, environmental conditions, equipment, metrological traceability, and externally provided products and services
• Process requirements that cover items in the workflow from review of customer requests, establishing agreements, selection, verification and validation of test methods, handling of test articles, record keeping, measurement uncertainty, reporting, and data management

Gwenael Chiffoleau, PhD served as the project lead and explained that a lot of WHA’s efforts during the accreditation project focused on documentation and process requirements: “In most cases, we were already following industry standards for testing, but we didn’t necessarily have all the required documents and records in place to clearly prove that we were doing so… This accreditation goes one step further to clearly demonstrate that every aspect of our testing program is up to the highest international standards.”

Pi (π) Mark and CE Mark Conformance Testing

The ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation offers benefits to component manufacturers seeking a Pi Mark or CE Mark, which are required for certain products sold in markets like the EU. Because of this new accreditation, test data generated by WHA International is now acceptable for use in the package of evidence required to obtain a Pi (π) or CE Mark from a notified body in Europe.

WHA is currently in the process of establishing a partnership with a European Notified Body in order to provide a streamlined path to component certification. Through this relationship, European customers will have easy access to WHA testing services, and WHA’s U.S. customers will be able to pursue Pi (π) or CE Marking through a recognized Notified Body.

Verified excellence for the EU and beyond

WHA has numerous customers, namely in Europe, who are mandated to use testing labs with ISO/IEC 17025:2017. It’s a regulatory requirement in certain countries, and it’s steadily gaining traction in the U.S. and around the world. “I believe that eventually it’s going to be a requirement for all testing labs,” explains Chiffoleau, “We’ve pursued this accreditation in an effort to stay ahead of the curve and meet customer expectations worldwide.”

If you need to reference or acquire a copy of WHA’s accreditation certificate for your company’s records, you can access a copy here.