Exchange of experience between WB6 Accreditation Bodies
Representatives of all WB6 Accreditation Bodies (ABs) met from 17.-19. February in Tirana, Albania, upon invitation by PTB for a two-fold objective:
1) to exchange experience on the implementation of the new requirements of the international standard that ABs have to comply with (ISO 17011:2017) after a transition period ending in 2021.
2) to explore the need and potential of a future SEE QI capacity building project on regional cooperation in accreditation.
The first workshop consisted of a lively and intensive exchange of experience on the status of implementation of the new requirements of ISO 17011:2017 in the ABs of the region. It was inspired by a detailed presentation of the Quality Manager by the German Accreditation Body DAkkS, He first explained how DAkkS deals with the risk to impartiality. This was followed by a detailed presentation on DAkkS’s policy and procedure on a risk-based approach to the assessment programme. In the last part of the event all the 6 NABs of the WB6 region shortly presented their experiences with the implementation of the risk-based approach.
The conclusion of the second workshop - planning for a SEE QI project in accreditation - is, that there is a need of further exchange of experience events on selected topics. A draft plan of action, based on the joint needs of the ABs, was elaborated. This will help a lot to the NABs of the WB6 region to learn about the practices of other NABs outside of the region and to harmonize their accreditation practices within the region and with other EA NABs outside the region. PTB is expecting the submissing of the finalized project request after finalization of the consultations between the WB6 ABs.
