Data Quality

AGAT Laboratories employs quality assurance professionals whose mandate is the continuous improvement of our organization. The Quality Assurance division monitors the operations of the company and ensures compliance with the best-documented practices. Analytical procedures are also scrutinized with the use of blind and double blind samples to ensure validity and accuracy of our methodologies.

The practices of the division provide continuous improvement of systems, processes and personnel, resulting in improved services to clients. The purpose of our Quality Assurance System is to ensure the precision, accuracy and reliability of all of the services offered clients. The best practices have been documented and are, where appropriate, consistent with:

• The International Organization for Standardization’s ISO/IEC 17025, "General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories' and the ISO 9000 series of Quality Management standards;
• All principles of Total Quality Management (TQM);
• All applicable safety, environmental and legal regulations and guidelines;
• Methodologies published by the ASTM, NIOSH, EPA and other reputable organizations;
• The best practices of other industry leaders.

The Quality Assurance System covers all areas including sample collection, sample transportation, sample analysis and data reporting. Major components and features of the Quality Assurance System include:

Documented Procedures – All aspects of the Quality Assurance System are documented. This includes analytical methodologies, safety, environmental and management systems. This documentation is critical to the training of personnel and for demonstrating the Quality Assurance System to clients and accrediting bodies. By completing the work according to the best practices, the precision, accuracy and reliability of all services are enhanced.

Personnel Training – AGAT Laboratories provides a detailed training program for all employees and documents the completion of the training. Training, as appropriate, is provided in the following areas:

• Management and Leadership Skills
• Total Quality Management Systems
• Quality Assurance and Quality Control Techniques and Procedures (i.e. Statistical Process Control and Intervention Techniques)
• Analytical Techniques and Procedures
• Equipment Maintenance and Utilization
• AGAT's Policies and Procedures
• Workplace Hazardous Materials Information Systems (WHMIS)
• Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG)
• Safety
• First Aid
• H2S Alive
• Waste Disposal
• Personal Growth and Life Skills

Chain of Custody – Sample custody is an integral part of AGAT's laboratory operations, where sample and subsequent analysis may be employed in specific situations, such as legal proceedings. The procedure is as follows:

• The sampler picks up the clean sample containers and insulated sealable travel containers, travel and method blanks, chain of custody (COC) form from AGAT Laboratories.
• Upon collection of the samples, the sampler completes the COC including the company name, contact, sampler’s name, date and time of collection, number of samples, types of samples and analysis required.
• The sampler fills in "Relinquished By" on the COC form and dates it. If a courier or transport company is used a note of this should be made on the COC by the client.
• Sealed samples are placed in the appropriate mailer (i.e. lock bag, lock box or sealable container), ensuring that the COC form is also included.
• The sampler or courier delivers the sealed or locked mailers directly to the laboratory.
• The Logistics division will receive the sealed or locked mailers directly from the courier or sampler. AGAT will inspect each seal on each individual sample, log the condition of each on the COC, and store the samples in a locked fridge. A carbon copy of the COC form is given to the client and the original COC is retained by AGAT.
• Each technician signs for each sample in the COC log book when taking possession, performing the analysis and then returning each sample to the COC fridge for storage at the end of each day or when the analysis is complete.
• The COC form and copies from the logbook will be included with the analytical results.

Preventive Maintenance – Preventive Maintenance procedures are clearly defined and written for each instrument and support equipment. Maintenance activities are documented on standard forms within the equipment logbook.

Continuous Improvement – Several processes defined within our Quality Manual work together to define the Continuous Improvement System. These processes include third party audits, internal audits, investigation procedures, nonconformance reporting, document change request forms (improvement suggestions) and corrective and preventive actions.

Client Feedback – Feedback from the client allows us to evaluate our effectiveness in achieving client satisfaction. "Customer Review Forms" are available to facilitate ease of use by clients. The forms, upon return, are viewed by the president and distributed to the individuals associated with the project. Through these procedures the voice of each customer is heard and improvements to service can be made.

Nonconformance, Corrective and Preventive Action – When non-conformities occur as a result of data validation, independent audit reports, client feedback or as a result of malfunction, a non-conformance report is issued to the Quality Assurance Division or to the non-conformance log at the analysis station, as appropriate. Corrective actions dealing with an analysis station are documented in the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the particular analysis. Non-conformances dealing with independent audits and client feedback are investigated by the Quality Assurance Division who recommend corrective and preventive actions with the goal of addressing and preventing the problem from reoccurring.

Quality Control Checks – Analytical procedures are subject to various quality checks which, include checks for linearity of calibration, accuracy of calibration, precision of analysis system and interferences to the analysis systems. The parameters, which are the measure of these checks, are control charted to monitor ongoing performance of the analytical procedure.

Internal Audits – are periodically conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of our best practices. Both analytical procedures and management practices are subject to internal audits and compared to the best practices of other organizations or to the published methodologies.