Implementación de un plan de capacitación sobre la norma ISO/IEC 17025:2017: requisitos y aplicaciones en los laboratorios de ensayo del Jardín Botánico de Bogotá José Celestino Mutis

Abstract

In Colombia, the certification/accreditation of laboratories is issued by entities such as IDEAM and ONAC, this process involves both technical and bureaucratic challenges and likewise obliges compliance with ISO/IEC 17025:2017; this establishes the technical and management requirements both nationally and internationally for testing laboratories. The Botanical Garden of Bogota José Celestino Mutis (JBBJCM) seeks accreditation of its laboratories so compliance with this standard is one of the primary steps for the process. Despite the relevance of the standard and its importance within the area, the implementation of activities for the understanding of all its components is a little explored challenge. This context motivated the creation of a training plan on the standard for the team of professionals in charge of developing the tests and documentation for accreditation. The training has key methodological elements such as pre- and post-training tests that recognize prior knowledge of the standard and contribute to a final balance that explores the strengths of the standard and possible improvements to the process; and five training sessions divided into the standard's numerals. The training covered five sessions in total and to evaluate the effectiveness of the process a paired t-test was used, which allowed comparing the pre and post test scores of the participants, thus demonstrating significant differences in the scores, suggesting that the training had a positive impact on the understanding of the standard, contributing to the progress towards the accreditation of the laboratory and accepting that the methodology used was effective in meeting the challenge, thus giving the green light to use similar processes within this and other management standards.