Quality Control Systems in UK : An On-site Assessments of Testing and Inspection Institutions

Abstract

With reference to the quality standard, ISO/IEC 17025, we conducted on-site assessments of and comparisons between test and inspection institutions in Korea and the UK. The diversity of evaluation methods used ‘in the field’ within the UK is greater than the range in Korea. Nevertheless, when assessing on-site processes in both countries, it is clear that many aspects of the quality assessment, including the roles of the evaluation committee members, the preparation of documents for evaluation, the opening meeting, the evaluation process in the field, and the closing meeting, occur in a similar order in the UK as in Korea. However, one important difference between the on-site evaluations in Korea and the UK was noted; particularly, in the UK, the level of excellence achieved by the evaluated institution is highlighted during the closing meeting.