3.4: Quality Assurance and Quality Control
- Page ID
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Quality Assurance
Quality assurance is an integrated system of management involving planning, implementation, documentation, assessment, reporting, and quality improvement to ensure that a process or item meets the needs of the experiment.
This includes the preparation of standard test methods, maintaining the laboratory at a constant temperature and humidity, sending equipment in for factory calibration, and maintaining chemicals within their recommended shelf life. Quality assurance should be regularly reviewed, and adjustments or corrective actions should be made as needed to achieve quality goals.
Quality Control
Quality control is the overall system of technical activities that measures the attributes and performance of a process against defined standards to verify that it meets the stated requirements. This includes operational techniques and activities used to fulfill requirements for quality.
Quality control measures can include calibrating instruments, measuring blanks or control samples, and providing training for lab technicians.
Definitions referenced from the Forum on Environmental Measurements Glossary, Environmental Protection Agency