12
Jan

5. Importance of Traceability in Calibration

Calibration traceability ensures that measurements made by instruments are reliable and can be traced to recognized standards.

It is very important for maintaining consistency, accuracy, and confidence in the measurements.

It helps in verifying the accuracy of instruments and ensures compliance with regulatory standards and quality assurance requirements.

Traceability assurance minimizes uncertainty in measurements, fostering confidence in the data’s validity.

Levels of Traceability Assurance:

Fully assured traceability: This is achieved through calibration by ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratories and adherence to regular instrument calibrations.
This ensures the highest level of measurement reliability.

Assured traceability (acceptable but improvement recommended): At this level, non-accredited labs perform the calibration with equipment traceable to accredited standards.

While this level is acceptable, Zodek recommends striving for full accreditation for enhanced confidence.
Partially assured traceability: This level of traceability assurance is limited to field inspections using calibrated kits with traceable calibrations. This approach offers some level of assurance but necessitates improvement for critical applications.

What is traceability assurance?
Traceability assurance establishes an unbroken chain of comparisons linking a measurement device’s readings back to internationally recognized standards.

This chain typically involves the following:

International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM): This organization maintains the primary international measurement standards and is the home of the International System of Units (SI). SI units are at the very top of the traceability hierarchy to which the unbroken chain of comparisons should link.

National Metrology Institutes (NMI): These institutions act as the highest authority for ensuring measurement accuracy within their respective countries. They participate in international comparisons to guarantee their standards are consistent with international references.

Primary reference laboratories: This type of laboratory calibrates instruments using reference standards provided by NMIs.

ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratories: These laboratories provide calibration services traceable to national standards.