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LONG-STANDING PE PROGRAM AT HERL->NHEERL-NC: BENEFITS & PITFALLS
Citation:
ROGERS, RON. LONG-STANDING PE PROGRAM AT HERL->NHEERL-NC: BENEFITS & PITFALLS. Presented at Meeting of ORD QA Managers, Athens, GA, October 25 - 27, 2005.
Description:
The instrument performance evaluation (PE) program now in place at the health divisions of the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory originated with the predecessor Health Effects Research Laboratory a few years prior to the initial 1979 QA mandate by Administrator Costle that created the USEPA Quality System. Initially part of a broad level-of-¬effort contract for QA support, it was well received as an aid in assuring the quality of research data as well as in complying with Agency QA requirements with minimal in-house effort. However, that came at a cost beyond mere funds. Some researchers came to rely primarily on the special capabilities of the Research Triangle Institute staff for periodically evaluating their measurement instruments (e.g., balances, pH meters, spectrophotometers) to ensure that they operated satisfactorily, ignoring their own primary responsibility for routine basic QC checks to ensure satisfactory operation. In the last 15 years, major changes have taken place; in the type and scope of the QA support contract, as well as in the prescribed and perceived role of this activity among research staff and within the overall NHEERL Quality System. However, we know we must remain vigilant toward this more appropriate role to ensure that it is maintained and further improved. During the latter 11 years of that same period, the three types of contracts selected by the Office of Acquisition Management in an effort to improve overall Agency contract administration have each proved rather cumbersome to manage and poorly-suited to this type of support effort. Those contract types have, however, helped further the necessary distinction between EPA and contractor roles in assuring quality measurement data.