The Third Cohort of the UNIDO ISO 17025 Online Training is Launched

The third virtual training on EN ISO/IEC 17025:2017 for the Accreditation of Testing Laboratories was launched jointly on Monday 31st October 2022 by the West African Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP) – Ghana funded by the European Union and the Government of Switzerland-funded Global Quality and Standards Programme (GQSP) which are both UNIDO-implemented projects in Ghana. The 11-week-long training is expected to end in January 2023.  

So far  63 laboratory analysts from the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Laboratories, COCOBOD – Quality Control Company, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, National Nuclear Research Institute (NNRI), Radiation Protection Institute, and the University of Cape Coast Laboratories who were part of the first and second cohorts have successfully completed and received their certificates at a brief ceremony held in Accra on the 19^th of August 2022.

This UNIDO state-of-the-art virtual training is aimed at enhancing the capacities of conformity assessment service providers in its member states to support their accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 which plays an important role in supporting the provision of accurate and reliable results from laboratory testing, calibration, sampling and measurement services across many sectors. The training ultimately seeks to build the capacity of laboratory technicians.

With weekly modules and flexible learning schedules, the training sessions will use live video conferencing sessions to provide interactive time with subject matter experts.

In addition to hosting the required reading material, the online training platform contains expert-prepared presentations in pre-recorded video format so that the participants can listen to the theoretical explanation to broaden their understanding and perspectives prior to attending the live training sessions.