The control of documents maintained in the electronic media and the requirements of NBR ISO/IEC 17025 and adequacy for PNQ

Abstract

During the assessments carried out by the authors at the diverse laboratories pertaining to the network of accredited laboratories - known as the Brazilian Calibration Network (RBC) - the authors verified the difficulties that these laboratories had in meeting the requirements of NBR ISO/IEC 17025:2001 (Standard), related to the maintenance of documents in the electronic media. More and more laboratories are substituting traditional control with electronic document control, which allows for more agility in the recovery of information. These laboratories implement policies and procedures; however, they still feel insecure, in some way, as to how to meet all of these requirements, thereby giving rise to difficulties in the implementation of such. The aim of this paper is to discuss the control of documents stored in the electronic media, adopting requirement 4.3 of the Standard as the reference, and aiming, in this manner, to harmonize the assessment process of the procedures of document management in the electronic media, and to assist the laboratories in the interpretation of the Standard, so that they may implement systems that are adequate to their actual necessities and to their structural size, while at the same time complying with the referred to requirement. This work will not broach the treatment given to the records (requirement 4.12 of the Standard), facts (requirement 5.4.7) nor to the electronic transmission of results (requirement 5.10.7), leaving these subjects for posterior discussions.