United Kingdom Accreditation Service
Encyclopedia
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the sole national accreditation body recognised by the British government to assess the competence of organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services.It evaluates these conformity assessment bodies and then accredits them where they are found to meet the internationally specified standard.
An organisation accredited by UKAS can demonstrate competence, impartiality and reliability in its ability to deliver results. Accreditation ensures that everyone from specifiers, purchasers, and suppliers to consumers can have confidence in the quality of goods and in the provision of services throughout the supply chain.
What does UKAS do?
which is now between UKAS and the Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills.
In 2010 UKAS acquired the CPA (Clinical Pathology Accreditation) from the Royal College
s. It started ISAS (Imaging Services Accreditation Scheme) for the Royal College of Radiologists
and the College of Radiographers
. The health care industry is expected to be a major growth area for accreditation.
It is situated on the A244 in the centre of Feltham.
Why accreditation is important:
Accreditation through Multilateral Agreements is now established in over 90 economies, with internationally recognised standards helping work towards the ideal of ‘accredited once, accepted everywhere’. This not only boosts trade between and within economies but also delivers confidence for industires and for the consumer.
An organisation accredited by UKAS can demonstrate competence, impartiality and reliability in its ability to deliver results. Accreditation ensures that everyone from specifiers, purchasers, and suppliers to consumers can have confidence in the quality of goods and in the provision of services throughout the supply chain.
What does UKAS do?
- UKAS assesses for competence against criteria set by international standards
- UKAS accredits (recognising competence of organisations to provide conformity assessment tasks)
- UKAS issues customers certificates and reports, often stating conformity with a Standard
History
It was set up in 1995 under a Memorandum of UnderstandingMemorandum of understanding
A memorandum of understanding is a document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action. It is often used in cases where parties either do not imply a legal commitment or in...
which is now between UKAS and the Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills.
Structure
UKAS is a non-profit-distributing private company, it is operated in the public interest as a company limited by guarantee. It resulted from the merger in 1995 of NAMAS (National Measurement Accreditation Service) and NACCB (National Accreditation Council for Certification Bodies). NAMAS was itself the result of a merger in 1985 of NATLAS (National Testing Laboratory Accreditation Scheme) formed in 1981 and BCS (British Calibration Service) formed in 1966. It employs 180 staff and over 250 technical external assessors / experts. UKAS has 18 Members but no shareholders.In 2010 UKAS acquired the CPA (Clinical Pathology Accreditation) from the Royal College
Royal College
A Royal College in some Commonwealth countries is technically a college which has received permission to use the prefix Royal. Permission is usually granted through a Royal Charter. The charter normally confers a constitution with perpetual succession and the right to sue or be sued independently...
s. It started ISAS (Imaging Services Accreditation Scheme) for the Royal College of Radiologists
Royal College of Radiologists
The Royal College of Radiologists is the professional body responsible for the specialty of clinical oncology and clinical radiology throughout the United Kingdom. Its role is to advance the science and practice of radiology and oncology, further public education and set appropriate professional...
and the College of Radiographers
Society of Radiographers
The Society of Radiographers is a professional body and a trades union that represents more than 90% of the diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1920...
. The health care industry is expected to be a major growth area for accreditation.
It is situated on the A244 in the centre of Feltham.
Standards covered
- ISO 17025
- ISO 9001
- ISO 17020
- ISO 13485ISO 13485ISO 13485 is an ISO standard, published in 2003, that represents the requirements for a comprehensive management system for the design and manufacture of medical devices...
- ISO 14001
- ISO/IEC 20000-1
- ISO 22000ISO 22000ISO 22000 is a standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization dealing with food safety. This is a general derivative of ISO 9000.-Food safety:...
- ISO/IEC 27001ISO/IEC 27001ISO/IEC 27001, part of the growing ISO/IEC 27000 family of standards, is an Information Security Management System standard published in October 2005 by the International Organization for Standardization and the International Electrotechnical Commission...
/British Standard BS 7799BS 7799BS 7799 was a standard originally published by BSI Group in 1995. It was written by the United Kingdom Government's Department of Trade and Industry , and consisted of several parts....
: Part 2 - BS OHSAS 18001/OHSAS 18001
- BS 25999BS 25999BS 25999 is BSI's standard in the field of Business Continuity Management . This standard replaces PAS 56, a Publicly Available Specification, published in 2003 on the same subject.-Structure:...
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Why accreditation is important:
- Successful societies need accurate information on measurement, safety, products, quality and capability.
- UKAS calibration, testing, inspection and certification bodies provide assurance that such information is available.
- For this information to be valuable it must be reliable.
- To have confidence in this information you need to know the organisation carrying out the evaluation activity is competent.
Accreditation through Multilateral Agreements is now established in over 90 economies, with internationally recognised standards helping work towards the ideal of ‘accredited once, accepted everywhere’. This not only boosts trade between and within economies but also delivers confidence for industires and for the consumer.