IV trends in analytical chemistry, vol. 1, no. 12,1982 I

UNITED KINGDOM

National testing laboratory accreditation scheme (NATLAS)

NATLAS-a government scheme under which officials of the National Physical Laboratory will grant appro- vals of the competence of other labora- tories, has been brought into existence in the United Kingdom. The purpose of this article is to present’an objective description of the NATLAS proposals, together with the favourable and un- favourable comments so far received about it.

Date of launching and aims NATLAS was launched formally on

22 October 1981 by the Minister of State for Industry. It is administered by the NATLAS Executive, which is based at the National Physical Labor- atory and has authority to grant, to renew and withdraw accreditation for testing laboratories.

In 1979, a consultative paper’ was issued by the Department of Industry at the National Physical Laboratory, giving details covering the need, aims, scope, operation, costs and charges for a voluntary national scheme for labor- atory accreditation, It was emphasized that the scheme would be voluntary and that there was no intention of making it a mandatory requirement. Although it was clear that should an acceptable national scheme be set up, commercial pressure could develop for testing laboratories to become accred- ited. It was suggested, initially, that the cost of administering such accredi- tation might appropriately be met by government, the method of recovering direct assessment costs being left open to consideration. It was pointed out that since at that time it was the usual (though not universal) practice for organizations which undertake assess- ments for their own purposes to do so at their own expense, those organiza- tions providing assessors should be asked to do so without charge to the test houses (as in the National Asso- ciation of Testing Authorities - NATA - in Australia). However, it was believed that a more workable option would be to pay for the services of the assessors and to recover this cost directly from the test houses, which in turn would recover the expense 0 165.9936/82/1XlOiI-M)M)/fOI .W

through increased charges to their clients. The name of the scheme would be the British Test House Accredita- tion Scheme (BTAS). This document was circulated for consultation to government departments, public bodies, test houses, trade associations and other relevant organizations. De- tails of replies and comments on the document do not appear to have circu- lated widely but in June 1980 a Press Notices was issued by the Department of Industry, stating that NATLAS was to become operational in 1981 (‘testing laboratories’ was felt to be a better name than ‘test houses’).

A Press Notices was issued in May 1981 announcing the launching of the scheme in October of that year and giving details of the purpose of NATLAS.

Funding During 198 1 a series of meetings was

arranged at which a member of the NATLAS Steering Committee spoke about the Scheme to interested parties. In addition the Head of the NATLAS Executive attended meetings of interested parties explaining the system to them. The launching of the scheme by Mr Norman Lamont, Minister of State for Industry, was reported4 and at that time the govern- ment funding was given as E500,OOO for the first 3 years of operation. However, it was intended that even- tually NATLAS should be self- financing. Three documents are now availables,s,7 which give the regula- tions and criteria to be met by labora- tory assessors and by testing labora- tories.

Relationship with existing assessment organizations

Accreditation systems which are at present run by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), Lloyds Register of Shipping, the British Standards Institution, the Central Electricity Generating Board and the British Ready Mixed Concrete Association have agreed to co-operate with NATLAS and it is hoped that a single accreditation scheme can be generated within NATLAS thus ful-

filling one of its declared aims - to reduce multiple assessment of testing laboratories. Other goals for NATLAS are: to obtain widespread recognition of the competence of accreditated test- ing laboratories; international recog- nition of such competence; overseas acceptance of tests undertaken in Brit- ish laboratories with a view to enhan- cing the quality and reputation of British goods in markets at home and overseas.

Criteria of competence and regulations

Laboratories seeking NATLAS accreditation must undergo an assess- ment for which a charge will be made. Surveillance visits will normally take place every 6 months and a re- assessment carried out every 3-4 years. The frequency of such surveil- lance or re-assessment will be pre- scribed by NATLAS which, at its discretion, may withdraw accredita- tion, reduce the scope of activity of a particular laboratory, or require re- assessment in the light of changes in personnel, equipment, etc.

The definition of a testing labora- tory is one which measures, examines, tests, calibrates or otherwise deter- mines the characteristics or perfor- mance of materials or products. Requirements for accreditation include organization, staff qualifica- tions, accommodation, test equip- ment, calibration, record keeping and the issuing of reports.

In order to evaluate the qualifica- tions and experience of assessors a system of ‘credits’ is employed, where assessors would normally be expected to hold a minimum of eight credits; a minimum of one from qualification and a minimum of live from experience. Lead assessors would nor- mally hold a minimum of ten credits with a minimum of two from qualifica- tion and a minimum of six from experience.

Credits are awarded as follows:

Qualification Corporate membership of a

professional institution, two credits; or a bachelors or higher degree, one credit. If the membership or degree is in quality assurance or in a discipline currently within the technical scope of

0 1982 Elsev~er Scientilic Publishing Company

trends in aqalytical chemistry vol. 1, no. 1.2,1982 V . .

the scheme administered by the accrediting authority, one additional credit is awarded.

Technical experience In science, engineering, technology,

manufacturing, construction or maintenance one credit is awarded for each year of experience (maximum five); if two or more years have been in quality assurance two additional credits; or if two or more years have been in testing laboratory quality assurance three additional credits; if experience has involved the assess- ment of quality systems one additional credit.

NATLAS will concentrate initially on accrediting laboratories for mechanical, physical, electrical or chemical tests, other types of testing to be included as the demand arises. Charges have not yet been detailed but are thought likely to be up to about E300 per ‘man day’. Laboratories already holding, for example Ministry of Defence approval, may join NATLAS on special terms in that an immediate assessment will not take ‘place, although a re-assessment will be carried out as soon as possible. No initial assessment fee will be payable, but all such NATLAS laboratories will pay a membership subscription re- lated to the effort involved in periodic re-assessment and surveillance.

Reaction to the scheme The NATLAS scheme has had a

mixed reception. It is clearly sound in as much as testing laboratories which have hitherto been assessed by several organizations may now require only a single NATLAS approval for each particular testing application. It may be that accreditation for mechanical, physical and electrical testing will have a smooth transition into the NATLAS scheme, but some anxiety has been expressed in the field of chemical analysis (chemical analysis is not necessarily the same thing as chemical testing). It is acknowledged by the Chemical Testing Committee of the Advisory Council (to the NATLAS Executive) on Calibration and Measurement that the wide field covered by chemical testing and analysis poses particular problems. Accreditation may have to relate both

to specific tests and to broader pro- ficiency in areas of testing or analysis. The possibility of round-robin type inter-laboratory comparisons is en- visaged in order to assess proficiency.

Anxiety about NATLAS is felt by many organizations sdch as Public Analysts and Independent Analytical Consultancies, where Principals are Senior Chartered Chemists holding the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry and/or Mastership in Chemical Analysis, most of whom have spent all their working lives in the field of analytical chemistry. To find assessors who would be acceptable to them as peers will not be easy. Also, surveillance of the vast range of analy- tical techniques used and the fields of work to which these are applied could cost very large sums of money. This would have to be paid initially by the authority or firm in question and subsequently by the tax-payer or the client. Indeed, one criticism that has been made is that although the scheme is voluntary, a sufficient number of NATLAS registrants (and this will not be known for some time) could war- rant the need for a licence to practise one’s profession. The Royal Society of Chemistry, in its Professional Bulle- tin,* has offered a form to suitably qualified members, which they must complete to be considered as assessors for NATLAS. It is hoped that this solves the problem for senior analysts of assessment by their peers.

Other concerns about the scheme include the fact that the application form is designed mainly for mechan- ical, physical and electrical testing, where the type of material, test and specific test method are easily speci- fied. In the Ministry of Defence appro- vals which have hitherto existed no charge was made but these same laboratories will now have to pay regularly for approvals. Even if appro- vals were free of charge the cost to the testing laboratory of assessments would be - as it has always been - sig- nificant in terms of time and man- power resources. However, NATA in Australia is operated without payment from the testing laboratory.

From the documentation available it would appear that NATLAS appro- val has as much to do with organiza- tional ability and technical com-

petence as with practical proficiency. One would expect it to function satis- factorily with the following provisions. That all the organizations which at present offer their own approvals are willing to co-operate and hand over to NATLAS their rights to accredit laboratories. That sufficient numbers of laboratories, including Public Analysts, Independent Consultancies, government departments (such as Forensic, Home Offlice, Government Chemists, etc.), Universities, manu- facturing industry, etc., are prepared to join.

References National Physical Laboratory (1979) The Accreditation of Test Houses Proposal for a Voluntary National Scheme A Consultative Paper Department of Industry (June 1980) National Testing Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (NA TLAS) Ref. 140 Department of Industry (May 1981) National Testing Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (NATLAS) Ref. 102 British Standards Institution (Dec- ember 1981) BSZNews, p. 5 NATLAS Executive (May 1981) NATLAS Accreditation Standard Criteria of Competence to be Met by Testing Laboratories, Nl NATLAS Executive (May 198 1) NAT- LAS Regulations, Regulations to be Met by Testing Laboratories, N2 NA TLAS Assessor Acceptabilip Standard, Criteria to be Met by Laboratory Assessors (May 1981) N3 Royal Society of Chemistry (December 1981) Professional Bulletin A Private Communication to Members of the Royal Society of Chemistry, No. 59

DIANA SIMPSON

Dr Diana Simpson is a Principal Consultant of Analysis For Industry, Factories 213, Bosworth House, High Street, Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex CO16 OEA, U.K.