Curtiss Wright Nuclear
SGS Gains FINAS Accreditation for ISO 17025
Posted:
SGS's testing and calibration laboratories in Finland, SGS Fimko Ltd., are amongst the first to gain accreditation from FINAS, the Finnish Accreditation Service, in accordance with the revised ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standard.

Accreditation is used to reliably state the competence of an operator, the credibility of the certificates it provides and is based on international criteria. It also builds on SGS's long history of ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation in Finland to previous iterations of the standard.

The most visible changes to the revised standard ISO/IEC 17025:2017 are:

A new unified structure to match other accreditation standards
Enhanced impartiality requirements to address conflicts of interest
Introduction of risk-based thinking to identify risks and opportunities as a basis for action
Metrological traceability with more requirements for calibrations
Additional requirements for IT systems
Introduction of decision rule regarding measurement uncertainty in pass/fail evaluation
These changes manifested themselves in SGS's Finnish operations last year through exhaustive training and assessments of conflicts of interest.

Managing director Mika Richardt said: "We're very proud to lead the way in the quality of the services we provide following this significant accreditation from FINAS. Accreditation is highly regarded both nationally and internationally and it recognizes the technical competence, credibility and reliability of our laboratories."

SGS received the accreditation from FINAS following an intense assessment process to ascertain its ability to fulfil all accreditation requirements. FINAS has demonstrated the competence of its operations through an international peer evaluation process and is a member of all international accreditation multilateral recognition arrangements (e.g. EA and ILAC).

In Finland, SGS Fimko Ltd. has been testing products since 1928 and is a founder member of the international IECEE CB certification system and the European Testing Inspection Certification System (ETICS), such as CCA and ENEC.
Evident Ultrasonic Inspection Equipment