1 / 14

Experiences of a Newly Accredited Laboratory

Experiences of a Newly Accredited Laboratory. Barbara J. Baker, MPH Washington State Department of Agriculture Microbiology Laboratory. WSDA Laboratory Displaying Certificate. Who are we?. Microbiology Laboratory Program Manager Quality Assurance Officer Administrative Assistant

oriana
Download Presentation

Experiences of a Newly Accredited Laboratory

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Experiences of a Newly Accredited Laboratory Barbara J. Baker, MPH Washington State Department of Agriculture Microbiology Laboratory

  2. WSDA Laboratory Displaying Certificate

  3. Who are we? • Microbiology Laboratory • Program Manager • Quality Assurance Officer • Administrative Assistant • Technical Supervisor • 5 Microbiologists • 1.5 Laboratory Support Staff

  4. Who are our Customers? • WSDA Food / Feed Safety Program • FDA • FERN MCAP • ISO • RRT • BSE

  5. Food Testing • Routine RTE surveillance (including Retail Raw Milk products) • Environmental testing at Cheese and Retail Raw Milk Producers • Investigations / Outbreaks • FDA FERN – MCAP Laboratory

  6. Dairy Testing • Regulatory testing for FDA • Laboratory certified by FDA-LQAB for testing dairy and water samples for NCIMS • FDA triennial on-site evaluations • 7 analysts are FDA-certified for dairy testing • Laboratory Evaluations of Industry Laboratories – 2 LEOs

  7. Feed Testing • Test Ruminant Feed for Prohibited Materials • Test Animal Feed / Food Processing Waste for Pathogens

  8. Steps to achieving ISO 17025:2005 • Based on your business, determine which accreditation body you want to work with – we use A2LA • Purchase and read the Standard for ISO 17025:2005 • Contract with an ISO 17025:2005 trainer to train all of your staff

  9. Steps to achieving ISO 17025:2005 • Request assistance from your accrediting body on obtaining materials to help develop your Quality System – e.g., purchase the checklist • Research other laboratory’s Quality Manuals • Develop your Quality Manual • Policy Statement – what you intend to do • About 25-30 pages

  10. Steps to achieving ISO 17025:2005 • Begin creating Procedures • Describe how to support your Laboratory’s policies • ~30 laboratory-wide system procedures you will need • Use the checklist to make sure you meet all the requirements • Start with your Document Control Procedure • Consider hiring an ISO 17025:2005 consultant to help you thru the process

  11. Steps to achieving ISO 17025:2005 • Stay in touch with your accrediting organization to ensure you have all the pieces in place prior to applying for accreditation • This whole process can take as short as 1 year or as long as 5 years

  12. ISO 17025:2005 Accreditation

  13. Lessons Learned • Have a dedicated Quality Assurance position in your Laboratory • You are not alone – “don’t reinvent the wheel” • If you have the funds, hire a consultant to assist you • Do not put too many procedures under scope during the first year • It will make your Laboratory better and help you continuously improve • Be patient….

  14. Contact Information Barbara Baker, Program Manager WSDA Microbiology Laboratory (360) 586-3645 bbaker@agr.wa.gov

More Related