Complaint procedure

1. Receiving and recording a complaint

The laboratory accepts complaints in writing only, sent by post, email or hand delivery. The laboratory worker who accepts the complaint hands it over to the laboratory head. After receiving the complaint, the laboratory head decides on whether the complaint is justified, i.e. whether the complaint pertains to the work of the laboratory for which they are responsible, and if so, continues through the following steps. If the laboratory head finds the complaint not to be justified, the person who made the complaint is informed that their complaint will not be addressed, including the reason. The laboratory head records the complaint received, assigns it a number and fills out the Record of Discrepancy form.

2. Decision-making

The laboratory head assigns a worker to address the complaint, sets the deadline for resolving the complaint or reporting on the resolution progress, and sets the deadlines and methods for informing the person who made the complaint. The complaint should not be handled by the same person who performed the work that is the subject of the complaint. An external worker is called in if necessary.

Deadlines for informing the person who made the complaint (in days after receiving the complaint):

• on receiving the complaint, within 5 days,
• on resolution within 30 days,
• on the resolution progress and the anticipated date of resolving the complaint (if the complaint is not resolved within 30 days) with subsequent written notification of the resolution method within 5 days of resolving the complaint.
• A worker is also assigned to check the progress of the complaint resolution process within the time frame set.

3. Investigations

The worker assigned to resolve the complaint checks that all necessary information is present and complete. If anything is missing or incomplete or requires clarification, this worker sends the person who made the complaint a written request to provide the information necessary to assess whether the complaint is justified. If the information is complete, the worker performs a responsible, impartial, efficient and exhaustive resolution to the complaint.

If the deadline for completion cannot be met, the worker handling the complaint informs the laboratory head and the person who made the complaint is informed as well.

4. Response to a complaint

The laboratory sets suitable and necessary steps in response to the findings of the complaint investigation.
After appropriate measures have been taken, the method and results of the resolution are submitted for inspection.

5. Inspection

The assigned worker checks the complaint resolution and remedial measures taken within the set time frame.

If the complaint is not resolved in a satisfactory manner, it is put through this process again.

6. Approval and notification

The laboratory head reviews and approves the resolution of the complaint and:

• informs the person who made the complaint in writing of the resolution of the complaint including reasons,
• sets the steps leading to improvement to prevent the same or similar complaints from being made again (if necessary),
• establishes the documents and records of the resolution to the complaint.

If the complaint concerns the activities of the laboratory head, the review and approval will be performed by another laboratory worker (the deputy head) or an external worker (managing director).

If the person who made the complaint does not agree with the resolution of the complaint, they can appeal and request a re-assessment by a representative of the company. The person who made the complaint is notified of this when being informed of the resolution to the complaint.

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