Laboratories that wish to become accredited by AIHA-LAP must first demonstrate their ability to correctly analyze samples of contaminants before they can even apply for accreditation. AIHA-LAP requires that laboratories successfully pass at least one round of proficiency testing prior to applying to become accredited. Once a laboratory has successfully proved its proficiency and submitted a complete application, AIHA-LAP staff will send a site assessor for an on-site visit to the laboratory facility. For three to five days, the assessor will review the laboratory’s procedures and assess the measures that the facility has in place to produce quality results. Site assessors evaluate laboratories’ proficiency, records, processes, and methods to produce a report. Laboratories are allowed up to three attempts to correct any issues identified by the site assessor. AIHA-LAP has a Technical Advisory Panel that provides expertise for each of AIHA-LAP’s accreditation programs and is responsible for checking the quality of the site assessment reports. A separate group, the Analy- tical Accreditation Board, or AAB, makes all decisions on accreditation applications and comprises 16 members who have extensive technical and analytical laboratory experience. AAB members include individuals who work for NIOSH, OSHA, private entities, universities, and laboratories. Morton stresses that AIHA-LAP has established checks and balances to ensure that board members do not have any conflicts with laboratories on which the AAB will be deliberating. For example, an individual from a competing laboratory or someone who previously worked for a laboratory applying for accreditation would not vote on that laboratory’s application.  Laboratories can apply for accreditation specific to the type of testing they do under one or more of AIHA-LAP’s five programs: the Environmental Lead Laboratory Accreditation Program (ELLAP), which is for laboratories that analyze lead in environmental samples such as paint, soil, dust, and air; the Environmental Microbiology Laboratory Accreditation Program (EMLAP), for laboratories that specialize in the analysis of microorganisms commonly detected in air, fluids, and bulk samples as part of indoor air quality studies; the Food Laboratory Accreditation Program (FoodLAP), for laboratories that perform tests on food products and ingredients; the Industrial Hygiene Laboratory Accreditation Program (IHLAP)​, for laboratories that analyze samples to evaluate occupational exposures to chemical hazards; and the Unique Scopes Laboratory Accreditation Program​, which covers laboratories that perform testing that is not addressed under AIHA-LAP’s other programs. Forensic methods, phthalates, and some consumer products are examples of areas that fall under the unique scopes program. A laboratory that has been approved for accreditation by AIHA-LAP receives a certificate/scope page and is listed on AIHA-LAP’s website. Each accredited laboratory receives a unique identification number that is tied to its location, the program under which it is accredited, and the analyses it performs. AIHA-LAP accredited laboratories also have the option to use accreditation symbols that are specific to each of the five programs. These accreditation symbols are intended to help customers select laboratories to meet their testing needs. Customers should confirm that a laboratory is accredited for the fields of testing they need for their exposure assessment. Checking a laboratory’s ID number on AIHA-LAP’s website allows customers to see exactly which tests it is accredited to perform. Information about accredited laboratories’ specific scopes of accreditation and fields of testing is available . AIHA-LAP’s website will also indicate if a laboratory has been suspended for a particular scope or test. Accredited laboratories undergo assessment by AIHA-LAP every two years.

AIHA-LAP is recognized internationally by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation, an international cooperation of laboratory and inspection accreditation bodies. AIHA-LAP is also a signatory of the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement, which is signed by accreditation bodies that have been evaluated by ILAC peers and deemed competent and equivalent. Two regional bodies—the Inter American Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation and the Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation—have also recognized AIHA-LAP. “These are the bodies that make sure that we follow ISO/IEC 17011 in addition to other requirements,” Morton explains. “The ILAC MRA represents the recognition that we have with our international counterparts who have come here, reviewed us, and deemed us equivalent to themselves.” Laboratories accredited by AIHA-LAP meet high standards of performance that promote the production of quality data. “Although accreditation doesn’t guarantee good data, it indicates that the laboratory’s quality system and technical expertise have been evaluated by an outside, independent third party,” Laura Parker, IH consulting scientist and manager at Maxxam Analytics, explained in a on improving collaboration between field IHs and laboratory professionals. “An assessment for accreditation includes a review of the procedures and quality assurance that the lab uses to generate reproducible and defensible results.” Participating in proficiency testing helps laboratories ensure that they’re giving their customers good data, that the analysis they’re doing falls within an expected range, and that they’re “getting the right answer,” Oler says. AIHA PAT Programs provides external quality control program assessment for laboratories, allowing participants to demonstrate that they’re able to correctly analyze both workplace and environmental samples. AIHA PAT is an accredited provider of proficiency testing under ISO/IEC 17043, , which sets requirements for the competence of providers of proficiency testing schemes and for the development and operation of proficiency testing schemes. AIHA PAT’s five programs—the Bulk Asbestos Proficiency Analytical Testing (BAPAT) Program, Beryllium Proficiency Analytical Testing (B​ePAT) Program, Environmental Lead Proficiency ​Analytical Testing (ELPAT) Program, Environmental Microbiology​ Proficiency Analytical Testing (EMPAT) Program, and the Industrial Hygiene Proficiency Analytical Testing (IHPAT) Program—align closely with AIHA-LAP’s accreditation programs, and many accredited laboratories use AIHA PAT for their proficiency testing needs. AIHA PAT Programs ships samples for analysis to participating laboratories on a quarterly or tri-annual basis, depending on the program. Participants enter their results in PAT’s online portal so that PAT can determine laboratories’ proficiency. The Proficiency Analytical Testing Programs Board, which comprises qualified technical experts who provide technical advice and assistance to the AIHA PAT Programs, reviews and approves all summary data for each round before scores are finalized and results are distributed to PAT Programs participants.  “Proficiency testing should be used as a tool in a laboratory’s quality system,” Oler says. “We offer proficiency testing because important decisions are made based on the data that laboratories return to their customers. We help ensure those values are reliable.” AIHA PAT Programs is open to all interested laboratories and does not lay out specific requirements for a laboratory’s quality system, for example. This limits the scope of proficiency testing. According to Oler, PT’s role is more narrowly defined than that of a laboratory accreditation program. Where accreditation covers all the processes and components that go into a laboratory’s end result, proficiency testing focuses only on the accuracy of that result: can a laboratory get the right answer when AIHA PAT Programs gives it a blind sample? Oler notes that many AIHA PAT participants are not accredited. “PT serves a role for those who do not wish to seek accreditation, but still want to have that third-party assessment of their analytical capabilities,” she says. AIHA PAT Programs also helps participants improve and refine the analytical skills of their staff, test new methods, and train analysts. A current list of PAT participants is available . The main focus of the AIHA Registry Programs, LLC, which was formed in 2009 to separate credentialing from AIHA’s membership and education activities to better ensure impartiality, is to promote recognition of individuals who have a certain level of competence in a specific area of expertise. AIHA Registry Programs meets the laboratory realm with the Asbestos Analysts Registry, which recognizes organizations and their affiliated analysts involved in fiber counting of air samples outside of established laboratory locations. Customers who require qualified fiber counters to analyze asbestos samples in the field can use AAR to find registered organizations and analysts. “I describe the AAR program as a middle ground between what full-fledged accreditation gives you and what PT gives you,” Oler says. “The AAR program requires a review of organizations’ personnel qualifications and training, microscope maintenance, internal audits, final reporting, corrective action, and things of that nature.” One of the primary differences between AAR and accreditation through AIHA-LAP is that AAR does not require laboratories to go through a site assessment since applicant organizations are not evaluated against ISO/IEC 17025 or any other ISO standard. Organizations undergo technical review by program reviewers for AAR, and affiliated analysts must also submit an application that demonstrates their quality control work with their current organization. In addition, each analyst is required to maintain proficiency in the Asbestos Analysts Testing program, AAR’s statistically valid airborne fiber-counting quality control program, to keep their registered analyst status.