3. How are non-conformities handled?

Two different assessments are required to process non-conformities:

• the consequences of non-conformity, both for the laboratory and for the customer or user of the service;

• causes (what caused the non-conformity to occur).

The following general rule applies to the treatment of non-conformities: by acting on the consequences, we correct the problem at a specific point in time; by acting on the causes, we prevent it from recurring.

This means that action must be taken on causes when non-conformities are serious and/or recurrent, or present significant risks. Some laboratories set themselves rules for triggering an evaluation of causes, for example with a weighting such as :

consequences x occurrence x risk x detection capability...