ENAO ACCREDITS ITS FIRST TESTING LABORATORIES
ENAO is proud to announce the successful accreditation of five testing laboratories from the Ethiopian Conformity Assessment Enterprise (ECAE). The laboratories and their scope of accreditation are listed in the Accreditation Directory of the ENAO Website and are summarized as follows:
| ENAO Registration Number | Laboratory |
| T001 | Microbiology Laboratory, ECAE. |
| T002 | Chemical Laboratory, ECAE. |
| T003 | Mechanical Laboratory, ECAE. |
| T004 | Textile Laboratory, ECAE. |
| T005 | Electrical Laboratory, ECAE |
The accreditations are as a result of a 9-month intensive project which was implemented by ECAE in which a quality system was developed that covered all the ECAE laboratories and where the technical requirements of traceability, method validation, quality control systems, the competence of personnel, and environmental controls were satisfied by system implementation, monitoring, and control.
The laboratories applied for accreditation in June 2012 whereupon ENAO established an assessment team consisting of six (6) assessors, both locally registered ENAO assessors, and foreign registered SANAS (South African National Accreditation System) assessors. The process of accreditation was followed whereby:
- The Lead Assessor performed a document review on the quality documentation submitted by the laboratories;
- ECAE took corrective action on any observations made;
- The assessment team conducted an on-site assessment over a period of 4 days at ECAE where implementation and effectiveness of the system was assessed;
- ECAE took corrective action on any observations made;
- The objective evidence from the review and the assessment was submitted to ENAO’s Accreditation Approval Committee (AAC), which consists of independent experts, for review and approval of the Assessment Team’s recommendation; and
- The Council of ENAO approved the granting of the accreditations to the five laboratories.
The whole Accreditation Process is outlined in Document P07.0 which is available on the ENAO website (www.enao-eth.org) and is designed to ensure the integrity of the accreditation which is based on proving competency of the laboratory to perform specified tests as detailed in each of the laboratory’s Scope of Accreditation.
This is indeed a proud occasion for ECAE since it is the first organization to achieve accreditation by ENAO and, in addition, it achieved accreditation of five laboratories at the same time which is no easy achievement!
It is also a proud occasion for ENAO since it is the culmination of approximately two years of work from the establishment of ENAO as the National Accreditation Body for Conformity Assessment bodies in Ethiopia. ENAO will now apply to ILAC (the International Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation) for Associate Membership which is one step away from full membership whereby ENAO can be recognized internationally.
ENAO has assessed a sixth laboratory which is a mining company and the outcome of the AAC decision is pending. It also has several applications pending and many more laboratories are now preparing for accreditation. It is fully expected that the demand for accreditation services will increase exponentially in the coming months.