By Kim Swanson, Communications Manager
Posted: August 2017
In March 2017, the AASHTO re:source Proficiency Sample Program (PSP) gained accreditation for ISO/IEC 17043 General Requirements for Proficiency Testing. Accreditation to this standard means our sample program must adhere to specific international requirements relating to the operation of a proficiency testing program. These include requirements for the development and implementation of the proficiency testing program; homogeneity and stability testing; handling, storage, and packaging of materials; data analysis; management requirements; and corrective actions.
Over the years, many of our customers, particularly those outside of the United States, have asked if we had this accreditation. In addition to meeting customer needs, AASHTO re:source Quality Manager, Tracy Barnhart says, “We wanted to set the bar high for ourselves and we knew that pursuing the accreditation would ultimately result in improvements to the PSP.” Tracy worked closely with Proficiency Sample Program Manager, John Malusky, and the rest of the PSP team to meet the requirements of the standard.
With this accreditation, our customers can be even more confident the 23,000 samples we produce annually are of the highest quality. This is especially important because a major use of these samples is to evaluate and monitor a laboratory’s continuing performance. Not only are laboratories monitoring their own performance with these samples, project owners, specifiers, and accreditation bodies use the program to evaluate a laboratory’s performance over time.
Our pursuit of quality doesn’t stop now that we’ve obtained the accreditation. Looking to the future, John Malusky says, “We are going to continue to evaluate and monitor our production processes, searching for improvement opportunities regarding homogeneity, stability, timeliness, and quality.” Gaining and maintaining this accreditation shows our level of commitment to quality on a world-wide level.
Visit our Document Library to view a copy of our certificate of accreditation, or see our full A2LA Cert. No. 4159.01 at the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) website.
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