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F-1 Section No: 12 Page: I of 21 Revision No: 2.0 Date: January 15, 1994 Performance and System Audits The Quality Assurance Director or Officer is responsible for internal system audits, coordinating all external audits and performance evaluation (PE) samples. In addition, the QA Director o•r Officer is responsible for maintaining state and agency certcation. 12.1 System Audits System audits are performed both by external agencies, and by the laboratory Quality Assurance group. The focus of these audits is the overall analytical "system", from login to delivery of the finished reports. The purpose of the audit is to document compliance with the specified methodology contained in our Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). 12.1.1 Internal System Audit Program Internal system audits are conducted on a monthly basis. Several analytical methods are selected each month for a systems audit. Compliance with all the required OC is evaluated and indicated on the QA inspection summary report form (figure 16-1). This report contains all the new nonconformance items, previously uncompleted non-conformance it and finally all non-conformance items completed. Dates are recorded when the non-conformance was found and when it was completed. This report is given to all supervisors and managers. With these steps an ongoing quantitative assessment of the analytical system is provided. 12.1.2 External System Audits System audits are performed by outside government agencies such as the California Department of Health Services, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Army Corp of Engineers. Audits are also performed by private agencies such as Chemical Waste Manageinent, Inc. 12.2 Performance Evaluation Samples Performance evaluation audits are used to provide a direct evaluation of the ability of the analytical systems to generate data that is consistent with the laboratory's stated objectives for accuracy and precision. External PEsamples are analyzed as part of the certification and approval process for various state and federal agencies, as well as for other organizations. 12.2.1 External Performance Evaluation Samples Performance evaluation samples are analyzed for a number of outside agencies I including: (1) USEPA semi-annual drinking water check samples (WS series) (2) USEPA semi-annual wastewater check samples (WP series) (3) USEPA annual wastewater check samples (DMR studies) (4) EMSL, Las Vegas, radiochemistry check samples (5) Environmental Research Associates check samples 12.3 Certifications, Accreditations and Agency Approvals FGL Environmental participates in laboratory certification programs with California, and other states. A copy of the California Environmental Laboratory Accredititation Program (ELAP) approved analyses list may be found in Figures 12-3 and 12-4. A copy of the Nevada Department of Human Resources approved analyses list may be found in Figure 12-5.