develop consensus standards for use by TNI's programs. This group has a support role in assisting other programs with activities such as guidance and standards interpretation.
fosters the generation of data of known and documented quality is through the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, or NELAP. The purpose of this program is to establish and implement a program for the accreditation of environmental laboratories.
is to establish and maintain a national PT program to support TNI’s National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, and other activities.
Field Activities Program (NEFAP) Executive Committee is to establish and implement an accreditation program for field sampling and measurement organizations (FSMOs).
Audit Sample Program is to develop consensus standards for the manufacture and analysis of audit samples for source emission testing.
on a variety of topics of interest to the environmental measurement community. TNI also hosts two regularly scheduled meetings per year, typically in January and August. Both are a week long and involve open meetings of TNI committees as well as training courses and other special sessions.Laboratory Accreditation Body Committee
This committee develops the standard for operation of laboratory accreditation bodies.
Conference Calls: 3rd Tuesday, 11 am ET
Contact the Committee Chair or Program Administrator to request to participate for these calls.
Notes:
On September 20, 2011, the On-Site Assessment Committee was merged with the Laboratory Accreditation Body Committee. The minutes and documents produced by the On-Site Assessment Committee are included below.
On June 9, 2010, this committee was renamed the Laboratory Accreditation Body Committee to reflect a change in the TNI bylaws. Documents such as meeting minutes may show the previous name of this committee, Accreditation Body Committee.
Mission:
As a means to improve the quality and consistency of environmental data throughout the United States and to foster the mutual recognition of laboratory accreditation by Accreditation Bodies, the mission of the Laboratory Accreditation Body Committee is to develop and support accreditation standards by engaging experts in a consensus-based standards development process.Strategic Goals and Objectives:
- Periodically review the TNI Standards for laboratory accreditation bodies (Volume 2, Modules 1 & 3) and recommend revisions as necessary for consistency and improvement.
- Support the NELAP Accreditation Council (AC) and the Laboratory Accreditation Systems Executive Committee (LASEC) in preparing draft policies and procedures to support program implementation, as requested by LASEC.
- Support the TNI Standards for accreditation bodies by developing and recommending appropriate training and guidance materials as coordinated within the TNI to facilitate the implementation and adoption of these standards on a national level.
- Review and respond to Standards Interpretation Requests, as referred.
- Gather and disseminate information on accreditation body activity as requested. This may include surveys and interviews.
- Monitor and report on ISO Conformity Assessment Committee (CASCO) Work Group revisions to ISO/IEC 17011.Support NELAP by completing any tasks assigned by the Board or required by the AC.
Success Measures:
- Successful adoption of policies, standards and recommendations by TNI and NELAP.
- Acceptance and use of database for laboratory applications and a generic TNI application to make the process easier.
- Acceptance of adopted policies and procedures to support NELAP
- Continued mutual recognition among Accreditation Bodies.
- Decisions that are found acceptable by federal, state and private sector organizations.
- Increased number of NELAP accreditation bodies and/or accreditation bodies adopting the use of TNI Standards.
- Increased number of organizations recognizing NELAP accredited laboratories.
Key Milestones for 2015:
Review of Volume 2, Modules 1 & 3, TNI Environmental Laboratory Sector Standard
- November 2015 – Complete review and finalize recommendation about the need to revise and whether to combine the two modules into one.
- December 2015 -- Initiate development of implementation plan for the revision.
For the generic application form:
- Date TBD – Present beta version of the generic application for review and comments. Identify beta testers. (depends on timing of completion of development)
- Date TBD – Make the above mentioned tool available for use; provide information and/or training to the laboratory and AB community.
Considerations:
- Volunteer member organization with significant time constraints.
- Maturing TNI infrastructure can provide the required resources for the committee to achieve its goals.
- TNI Webmaster has adequate time to complete generic application development.
- The committee has the ability to identify and engage the right expertise to get their job done.
- The committee has the ability to implement an effective consensus-based standards development process
- ABs and other stakeholders will accept the work products of the committee.
- Budgetary and financial constraints, as well as industry politics, may prevent the adoption of otherwise usable solutions.
- Standards must establish a consistent baseline for achieving good data quality but provide for maximum flexibility with minimum prescriptiveness.
Available Resources:
- Volunteer committee members
- Existing national and international consensus-based standards
- EPA Cooperative Agreement
- TNI Website
- Other TNI Committees (Expert and Administrative/Support functions)
- Participating organizations
- A potentially large group of volunteer associate members to help with committee objectives.
- Benefits from ANSI recognition
Additional Resources Required:
- Industry experts
- Writers and technical editor support
- Database and web-based service support for development of specific tools.
- Web-based services for shared document access during teleconferences
- Administrative support for committee operation
- Travel support
- Members to balance the interest groups of the committee.
Anticipated Meeting Schedule:
- Monthly Committee Teleconferences – third Tuesdays at 11 am Eastern
- Additional committee teleconferences as needed
- Committee meetings (face-to-face) during semiannual TNI Forums (Winter and Summer, as needed)
| Carl Kircher, Chair Florida DOH Jacksonville, FL carl.kircher@flhealth.gov | Lynn Bradley, Program Administrator The NELAC Institute Staunton, VA lynn.bradley@nelac-institute.org |
| Nilda Cox, Vice Chair Eurofins Eaton Analytical Monrovia, CA nildacox@eurofinsus.com | Bill Batschelet US EPA Region 8 Lab Golden, CO batschelet.william@epa.gov |
| Virginia Hunsberger Pennsylvania DEP Harrisburg, PA vhunsberge@pa.gov | Catherine Katsikis LDCFL, Inc. Royal Palm Beach, FL ckatsikis@ldcfl.com |
| Marlene Moore Advanced Systems, Inc. Newark, DE mmoore@advancedsys.com | Mei Beth Shepherd Shepherd Technical Services Austin, TX mbshep@sheptechserv.com |
| Aurora Shields City of Lawrence Lawrence, KS ashields@lawrenceks.org |
Sample Checklists and Forms for Use by Lab Assessors in NELAP Accreditation Bodies, based on the 2003 NELAC Standard |
||
These are checklists and forms developed and used by laboratory assessors in the state NELAP Accreditation Bodies. They are not meant to be mandatory, but are posted here so that other assessors may use them or modify them for other ABs to use in assessments, if desired. |
||
 |
Lab Assessment Checklists, from NH AB (coming soon) |
|
|
FLORIDA ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORY CERTIFICATION PROGRAM NELAP Assessment Confidentiality Notice On-Site Laboratory Assessment Appraisal Form Closing Conference (Exit Interview) Checklist |
|
|
FLORIDA ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORY CERTIFICATION PROGRAM Florida Pre-Assessment Checklist |
|
ABC Draft Criteria on Associate Affiliate Members (Excel, 16Kb)
Chapter 6 of the 2003 NELAC standard contained procedural language that this committee believes does not belong in the TNI standard. This language is summarized in the two spreadsheets below.
Chapter 6 Unresolved Items (Excel, 119Kb)
Chapter 6 Analysis (Excel, 178Kb)
Guidance Documents
Basic Assessor Training Course Curriculum (PDF, 246KB)
Technical Training Course Curricula for Environmental Lab Assessors (PDF, 264KB)
On-Site Assessment of Environmental Laboratories (PDF, 177KB)
