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FY2000 HIGHLIGHTS OF QA ACTIVITIES WITHIN ORD'S LARGEST MEGALAB--NHEERL
Citation:
Culpepper, B T. FY2000 HIGHLIGHTS OF QA ACTIVITIES WITHIN ORD'S LARGEST MEGALAB--NHEERL. Presented at EPA Annual Conference on Managing Quality Systems, St. Louis, MO, April 1-5, 2001.
Description:
The EPA Office of Research and Development's National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) has more than 700 staff members in six states. NHEERL conducts research on the effects of contaminants and environmental stressors on human health and ecosystem integrity. NHEERL's research mission and goals help the Agency to identify and understand the processes that affect our health and environment and help the Agency to evaluate the risks that pollution poses to humans and ecosystems. The soundness, effectiveness, and credibility of EPA's regulations ultimately rest on the scientific and technical bases for these actions. A sound QA program can help ensure data quality. During FY2000, NHEERL quality professionals performed 32 in-depth project audits within the Laboratory's nine research divisions. Additionally, more than 800 performance evaluations, 20 surveillances of studies in progress, and six data quality assessments were performed. More than a million dollars were invested in QA/QC activities such as instrument calibrations, equipment maintenance, and travel dollars to conduct audits. Another $44K was invested in QA training of 330 staff members. Additionally, NHEERL was recognized in an ORD "Best Practices Identified in Management Review" for developing and presenting a 90-minute course entitled Guidelines for Laboratory Recordkeeping." Copies of the guidelilne document and the course PowerPoint presentation can be found at the NHEERL QA URL address: http://www.nheerl.epa.gov/policy guidance/qa/index.htm.