Laboratory Advisory Committee Meeting
July 19, 2001
The third meeting of the Laboratory Advisory Committee was held at the Clarion Hotel - Airport West in Cleveland, OH.
Steve Frank chaired the meeting and 68 persons registered as participants or observers. A registration list is attached to these Minutes.
Paul Miller, National DHIA Executive Director, reviewed the ICAR requirements for auditing and explained the purpose and terminology on the ICAR laboratory survey.
Michael Rector, QCS President, reviewed the QCS auditing activities conducted and in progress since the last FSAC meeting.
Bill VerBoort, Audit Review Committee Chairman, reviewed the role of the ARC and led a discussion regarding concerns with outlier data.
Michael Rector reviewed the current CDCB auditing guidelines for laboratories and Paul Sauve, Canadian Lab Services, explained the auditing procedures being used by QCS to verify compliance.
The Committee was given the opportunity to discuss each section of the manual and made the following recommendations for revision:
1. Page 7, Calibration Check Procedure - To remove the requirement that the temperature of the Sample Unknowns be recorded when the samples arrive at the laboratory.
2. Page 8, Calibration Check Procedure - To remove the requirement that the temperature of the Sample Unknowns be recorded when the samples arrive at the laboratory.
3. Page 9, Calibration Checks and Maintenance Documentation item 3 - To revise the item to read "Date and time, where appropriate, of the calibration check or maintenance"
4. Page 10, Sample Preparation - To correct the temperature ranges from 102 - 104 to 104 - 107 Fahrenheit and from 39 to 40 - 42 Celsius.
5. Page 10, Sample Handling - To delete this item.
Larry Owens, RealTime Solutions, reviewed the operation of the Sample Unknowns web site. Topics discussed included online and offline data entry, changing machine identification, adding and deleting instruments, software requirements, certification reports, and email procedures.
Paul Sauve related concerns with the use of web site calculated totals being used in place of hand-calculated totals for verification of data entry errors. He stated that this has defeated the purpose and resulted in numerous problems. Paul concluded by reviewing the proper procedures for the data entry process.
Steve Frank announced that he was not interested in being re-elected as the LAC Chairman and opened the floor for nominations. Jere High was elected as the next Chairman.
As requested by National DHIA, the Committee provided two persons as nominees for appointment to the QCS Board of Directors and Audit Review Committee. The nominees were Jere High and John Rhoads.
The Committee discussed the location of the next meeting and recommended that it be held in the Minneapolis / St Paul area to accommodate visits to lab machine manufacturer facilities.
Respectfully Submitted,
Michael Rector
QCS
