L-A-B established an accreditation program for Field Sampling and Measurement Organizations (FSMO's)

May / 11

Laboratory Accreditation Bureau has established a Field Sampling and Measurement Organization Accreditation Program (FSMO AP) to assure the competency of Field Sampling, measurement, and other organizations generating environmental measurement data. The L-A-B FSMO Accreditation Program has been developed in response to the new USEPA Policy Directive dated March 28, 2011 "requiring that organizations (e.g. laboratories, field sampling and measurement) generating environmental data under Agency-funded acquisitions submit documentation of their competency, which may include participation in applicable certification and/or accreditation programs." L-A-B has received preliminary recognition for this program to The NELAC Institute (TNI) as an accreditation body to the TNI FSMO Standard (Volume1 and 2 have been incorporated into the L-A-B FSMO accreditation program requirements).

L-A-B believes this program will compliment well it's already NACLA and ILAC recognized ISO/IEC 17025 and DoD QSM accreditation programs. Testing laboratories, regulators and specifiers now have a standard for environmental sampling and field measurement that was not available before to assure the quality of those organizations sampling and measuring in the field. Labs and users of environmental data will be able to require accreditation of suppliers.