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Quality Assurance
Forensic Science Ireland’s mission is to provide the Irish Justice System with a high quality integrated Forensic Service through independent, expert and scientific analysis and advice to best international standards.
This requires that we maintain a robust quality system that meets international scientific standards ensuring that all of our stakeholders have confidence in our services and our findings.
Accreditation
Accreditation to international standards is an important validation of the FSI Quality System. It allows us to have confidence that the reports we issue are accurate, consistent, and are based on tested and approved methods.
Accreditation also provides us with a mechanism for continuous improvement through the identification of risks and weaknesses in our system.
EN ISO/IEC 17025 is the international standard for testing and calibration laboratories. Accreditation was awarded to FSI by the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB) in 2003 (Lab Reg. No. 137T). The laboratory transitioned to the updated ISO/IEC-17025:2017 in 2019. The full scope for which FSI is accredited can be found on INAB’s website (see link below). A comprehensive re-assessment is conducted by INAB every 5 years, with surveillance assessments each other year. Our compliance to ISO/IEC-17025:2017 is assessed from detailed reviews of our Quality System, management systems, operating procedures and validation reports across all of our forensic disciplines. Our successful accreditation and continuous extensions to the scope are underpinned by a robust Quality System that is supported by all our staff.
FSI continues to refine and improve its Quality System, incorporating new forensic techniques into its established practices in a state of the art Forensic Science Facility. Every year FSI implements an annual programme of internal audits covering all aspects of the Quality System to verify that its operations continue to comply with the requirements of the Quality System, ISO/IEC 17025. We participate in a range of external proficiency trials/collaborative exercises, designed by European forensic laboratories and third party companies with a view to continuously assessing and calibrating proficiency levels in forensic disciplines across Europe.
