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Accreditation and Quality Assurance: Journal for Quality, Comparability and Reliability in Chemical Measurement (v.3, #9)
Traceability, is it what we really want in our chemical measurements?
by William P. Reed (pp. 350-350).
Update on the activities of the National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation by B. L. Collins (pp. 351-355).
The efforts to form a laboratory accreditation cooperation in the United States and North America are described, including activities of the Laboratory Accreditation Working Group and the interim board of the National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation. The vision, mission, and guiding principles developed by the two groups are presented, along with the operational documents, such as bylaws, the recognition document, guidance documents and the quality manual drafted by the interim board.
Keywords: Key words Calibration; Global market; Guide 25; Guide 58; Laboratory recognition
Development of laboratory accreditation in the United States by John W. Locke (pp. 356-361).
Laboratory accreditation in the United States is an old profession. Users and regulators have, it seems, been concerned about the quality of test data they obtain from laboratories for well over half a century. These users have developed many different systems to meet their needs. As a result, there is much duplication of effort and overlapping in accreditation requirements and many laboratories have to maintain current accreditation from a number of organizations. A number of attempts have been made over the years to reduce this duplication, but it still remains. In the meantime, rapid progress has been made internationally to recognize laboratory accreditation systems in different countries. This paper describes this situation and speculates on the future, considering the international thrust to simplify and consolidate conformity assessment procedures.
Keywords: Key words United States; Laboratory accreditation; Conformity assessment
Statistical treatment of proficiency testing data by Daniel William Tholen (pp. 362-366).
There are three stages to evaluating a laboratory's results in an interlaboratory proficiency test: establishing the correct result for the test item, determining an evaluation statistic for the particular result, and establishing an acceptable range. There are a wide variety of procedures for accomplishing these three stages and a correspondingly wide variety of statistical techniques in use. Currently in North America the largest number of laboratory proficiency test programs are in the clinical laboratory field, followed by programs for environmental laboratories that test drinking water and waste water. Proficiency testing in both of these fields is under the jurisdiction of the federal government and other regulatory and accreditation agencies. Many of the statistical procedures are specified in the regulations, to assure comparability of different programs and a fair evaluation of performance. In this article statistical procedures recommended in International Organization for Standardization Guide 43, Part 1, are discussed and compared with current practices in North America.
Keywords: Key words Proficiency testing; Interlaboratory comparison; Laboratory Accreditation; Statistical methods
Use of ISO Guides 25, 30, 31, 34, 35, and 9001 in re-engineering Bethlehem Steel Corporation's analytical chemistry reference materials program by D. A. Flinchbaugh; John M. Poholarz (pp. 367-372).
Many certified reference materials are needed to calibrate and control analytical measurement processes in integrated steel works. It is beyond the scope and capacity of most national laboratories to supply all of these needs. Yet, the demand for these materials is steadily increasing as more steel producers update their quality systems in preparation for ISO 9000 registration and/or ISO Guide 25 laboratory accreditation assessments. This paper describes how the Bethlehem Steel Corporation updated its reference materials program to meet its internal needs and offers a model for use by others in improving their programs.
Keywords: Key words Reference materials; ISO Guides; Corporate program; Bethlehem Steel Corporation
The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation by Peter S. Unger (pp. 373-376).
The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) marks its 20th year of existence. Its major aim as a non-profit, public service organization is to promote laboratory quality and competence. In terms of the number of current accreditations, A2LA is the largest multidiscipline laboratory accreditation body in the United States and the fourth largest in the world. An overview of current activities and status is provided.
Keywords: Key words Assessment; Laboratory accreditation; Proficiency testing; Quality system registration
Accreditation for United States environmental laboratories by J. L. Parr (pp. 376-378).
There is currently no national program for recognition of United States environmental laboratories. This situation should change sometime in 1998 as environmental testing laboratories should be able to apply for accreditation in the United States via a system developed by the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Conference (NELAC). NELAC is an organization whose purpose is to establish performance standards for accrediting environmental laboratories. Laboratories to be accredited will be required to demonstrate qualifications of testing personnel, pass on-site inspections, perform satisfactorily on proficiency test samples, and meet specified quality assurance standards.
Keywords: Key words Environmental testing; Accreditation; Proficiency testing; Quality assurance standards
Report of a CITAC workshop held at Pittcon 98
by Bernard King; Alan Squirrell; R. Walker (pp. 378-380).
First worldwide IAF Agreement signed on mutual recognition of accreditations
by M. Wloka (pp. 382-382).