Accreditation events
Keeping updated on all your accreditation events are essential. While the basics are maintaining your Quality Management System (QMS), participating in the proficiency sample program and an on-site inspection every 24 months – that’s just the beginning. While there are other accreditation organizations, I will refer to the requirements/events required by the AASHTO Accreditation Program (AAP).
The accreditation status of a laboratory is reviewed annually by submitting a Criteria Compliance Document (CCD). The annual accreditation review determines whether the laboratory has received all applicable on-site assessments and quality management system evaluations. The review also includes an evaluation of updated personnel information.
The CCD must be completed and submitted online with supporting documentation during the anniversary month in which the laboratory was first granted accreditation. The laboratory has a total of 60 days from the issuance of the first reminder email to submit the CCD and supporting documentation for review.
Requirements that might slip through the cracks
When reviewing final reports for your proficiency samples, there may be ratings (results which are beyond 2 standard deviations) that will require a Proficiency Sample Corrective Action Report. It is not required to submit this report to AMRL, however it is a requirement to maintain this record as part of your quality manual for five years and will be verified on your next on-site assessment.
Internal Audit Report (IAR)
Due annually, the IAR is used to document any activities/changes within the QMS that may be worth noting. A good example would be changes in policies used for sub-contracting (section 6.4), a comment for the reason why your laboratory changed its policy would be appropriate when completing your annual IAR.
Internal Audit Report tab on the left side:
- Last report date
- Next required report date
- Current report date range (last completed)
Create: +New Internal Audit Report function
Under Reports, there will be a 5-year history maintained in pdf format.
The knowledge base can always be accessed by going to help from the application in the upper right hand corner.
The R18LabQMS team travel plans
- ASTM, June 16-18, 2015 Anaheim, California
- AASHTO Subcommittee on Materials, August 2-7, 2015 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Please let us know if you plan on attending!
WebEx demos
Contact us if you would like a one on one demo of the R18LabQMS application.
-Gary Irvine