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Complete Article from Edition 2 APG eNewsletter
Article written by Jerry L.Parr of INELA
For more information, contact
Jerry L. Parr
INELA
817-598-0458
jparr@inela.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 2003
NELAC 9 Meeting in San Diego
WEATHERFORD, TX— The Ninth Annual meeting of the National Environmental
Laboratory Accreditation Conference (NELAC) will be held in San Diego
California the week of June 2, 2003. NELAC is the association of state
and federal agencies established to develop and implement a national
environmental laboratory accreditation program characterized by
uniform standards, reciprocity between member states, and a recognition
that NELAC accreditation represents technical competency and a
commitment to a high level of quality assurance. NELAC provides
purchasers of environmental analytical services with a recognized
mechanism for identifying laboratories with particular areas of
technical expertise; users of monitoring data with confidence that
the laboratory that performed the analysis was technically competent,
regulatory agencies with identifying laboratories that have pledged
to uphold high standards of quality; and laboratories with a national
means of gaining recognition for their technical expertise and
commitment to high quality in all their activities.
The national accreditation program is undergoing fundamental shifts with
regard to both the technical focus of the standards and the way in which
the program will be organized and operated. These shifts will offer an
increased opportunity for the non-federal and non-state governmental
sectors to fully participate in developing the standards by which the
accreditation program operates. There will be special sessions of the
Program Policy & Structure Committee to discuss NELAC’s future. Plans
for increased participation by the private sector, the long-term
sustainability of NELAC, and the progress and timeline for moving
toward these goals will also be discussed.
With regard to the technical standards, a great deal of progress has
been made in moving to a quality based, performance approach for environmental
monitoring. NELAC’s Quality System committee will be presenting proposed
changes to the existing language in Chapter 5 of the NELAC standard to
make this new approach a reality.
The meeting is co-sponsored by the California Department of Health Services,
the Office of Research and Development of the United States Environmental
Protection Agency and the Institute for National Environmental Laboratory
Accreditation. For more information on the meeting, please go to
www.inela.org.
INELA Meeting in San Diego
WEATHERFORD, TX— The Institute for National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation
(INELA) will have a Technical Conference in San Diego, California from June 1-3,
2003. This meeting is scheduled to complement the National Environmental Laboratory
Accreditation Conference (NELAC) meeting occurring the same week.
The Institute for National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation (INELA) is an
organization established to assist NELAC’s move towards self-sufficiency. INELA
is a not-for-profit educational and scientific voluntary consensus organization
whose mission is to foster the generation of environmental laboratory data of
known and documented quality through the development of performance standards
for accreditation of environmental laboratories.
The INELA Conference will include the following sessions:
- NELAC Implementation: A presentation summarizing changes to the NELAC standard to be implemented in 2003 and a panel discussion on implementation issues.
- NELAC Strategic Plan: A discussion of the goals and objectives of the NELAC effort over the next three years.
- Accrediting Authority Open Forum: An opportunity for anyone to provide comments to the NELAP-recognized Accrediting Authorities on a number of key issues.
- Auditing of Laboratory Data and Records: A training course on concepts for reviewing records for conformance to the NELAC standards.
- Establishing an Effective Laboratory Data Integrity Plan: A training course on what goes into implementing an effective laboratory data integrity plan.
- Proficiency Test Caucus: This special session will be an open discussion of issues surrounding proficiency testing, including approval of PT providers, acceptance limits and related topics.
- Assessor Forum: This special session is designed for NELAP laboratory assessors to learn specific details surrounding consistent implementation of the 2001 NELAC standard.
INELA is pleased to be a co–sponsor of the NELAC 9 meeting that will be held later that week.
For more information on the meeting,
please go to www.inela.org.
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