Accra, May 5, GNA - A five-day African Regional Corporative Agreement (AFRA) training course to provide basic knowledge as well as some practical exercise to understand and implement the requirements of the International Organization Standard (ISO) 17025 in modern Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) laboratories opened in Accra on Monday. The course would also teach laboratory personnel and future laboratory managers how to install, maintain and improve a laboratory quality management system that meets the requirement of the ISO/IEC 17025 standard.

ISO 17025 is the International Organization Standard for the technical competence of calibration and testing laboratories. That standard was developed specifically to give guidance to laboratory managers on both quality management and the technical requirements for the proper operation of a laboratory. Nine countries including Ghana are participating in the training course organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the National Nuclear Research Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC).

Prof. Yaw Serfor-Armah, Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), said the objective of the course was very appropriate because compliance to the ISO standard was a crucial requirement for any laboratory that wanted to be competitive and satisfy customers' requirements. He said the NDT, also known as Non-Destructive Examination (NDE) or Non-Destructive Inspection (NDI), was the testing of materials, components and assemblies that did not destroy the test object and therefore vital for constructing and maintaining all types of components and structures.

The Deputy Director-General said NDT was used in a variety of settings that covers a wide range of industrial activities, including automotive, aviation/aerospace, construction, manufacturing, industrial plants such as nuclear, petrochemical, power, refineries, pulp and paper, fabrication shops and mine processing, among other things. He therefore stressed the need for industries to consult and use NDT laboratories to ensure safety at their factories and workplaces. Mrs Kistina Britwum, Deputy Executive Director, Ghana Standard Board, said until a few years ago there was a question mark about the applicability of ISO 17025 for accreditation of NDT laboratories. "Many individuals, especially those involved in providing services at industrial process plants away from their premises, were of the opinion that such a standard was only applicable for laboratories and not for field conditions. But ISO 17025 makes it clear that the field of radioisotope application is covered under the standard," she added. Mrs Britwum said a laboratory that met the requirement of ISO/IEC 17025 could assure customers of the competence and experience of staff, integrity and traceability of equipment and materials, technical validity of methods, validity and suitability of results and compliance with ISO 9000 quality management system standard. These qualifications of a laboratory, she said, were usually attested by a third party accreditation body, which confirmed the competence of the laboratory to carry out specific tasks through the process of accreditation.

Mrs Britwum said not withstanding the benefits of the standards, a laboratory set to install and implement ISO/IEC 17025 faced challenges such as top management commitment, change in management style, work culture and adherence to standards.