Wisconsin Administrative Code
Department of Natural Resources
NR 100-199 - Environmental Protection General
Chapter NR 149 - Laboratory Accreditation
Subchapter VII - Quality Systems
Section NR 149.44 - Laboratory equipment
Universal Citation: WI Admin Code ยง NR 149.44
Current through August 26, 2024
(1) GENERAL PROVISIONS.
(a) The laboratory shall furnish the
equipment necessary and required for the correct performance of all the
environmental tests and associated preparations and activities it
performs.
(b) The laboratory shall
use equipment and software for testing and calibration that achieves the
accuracy required to comply with the requirements of the methods or
specifications relevant to the environmental testing performed by the
laboratory.
(2) LABORATORY SUPPORT EQUIPMENT.
(a) The
laboratory shall use support equipment only for its intended purpose, and it
shall keep that equipment in working order by routine and preventive
maintenance.
(b) When support
equipment leaves the direct control of the laboratory for maintenance or for
any other reason, the laboratory shall ensure that the function and calibration
status of that equipment is checked or demonstrated to be in working order
before the equipment is returned to service.
(3) CALIBRATION AND VERIFICATION OF SUPPORT EQUIPMENT.
(a) The laboratory shall calibrate
or verify all support equipment within that equipment's range of use using
available reference materials traceable to NIST. When reference materials
traceable to NIST are not commercially available, the laboratory shall use
materials of a quality that will ensure the accuracy of the calibrated or
verified support equipment for its intended use.
(b) The acceptability criteria for these
calibration or verification checks shall be established by the methods, or in
the absence, department guidance.
Note: Department guidance can be found on the Wisconsin department of natural resources laboratory accreditation program website.
(c) The laboratory
shall establish a procedure for calibrating or verifying the calibration of
support equipment which shall include all the following elements:
1. Procedures used for calibrating or
verifying the calibration.
2.
Procedures for utilization of correction factors when there is a
bias.
3. Evaluation criteria used
which defensibly documents the continued accuracy of the equipment.
4. Procedures for addressing equipment which
fails to meet calibration or verification requirements.
(d) Minimum verification frequencies include
all the following:
1. Annually: devices used
to measure atmospheric pressure and temperature.
2. Quarterly: mechanical and automatic
volumetric dispensing devices, including pipettes.
3. Monthly: balances, with one weight in the
expected range of use. Balance weights shall be all the following:
a. Handled and stored in a manner that
protects the weights' integrity.
b.
Traceable to NIST and of class 2 quality or better. Certified for accuracy
every five years by a metrology service outside the laboratory. Alternatively,
new weights of class 2 quality or better, traceable to NIST, shall be purchased
for use. Weight recertifica-tion shall be performed sooner than every five
years if balance checks performed using these weights suggest that a change in
the certified weights has occurred.
Note: Weights that are currently NIST traceable may be used to verify other weights.
4. Each day of use: when specific
temperatures are required by method, regulation, or covered program, the
operating temperature of the equipment used to control temperatures shall be
checked and documented.
(e) All the following are exempt from
accuracy verification under this section:
1.
Glass microliter syringes.
2.
Disposable pipettes.
3. Automatic
titrator systems.
(4) LABORATORY ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS.
(a) The laboratory shall use personnel
properly trained to operate analytical instruments. Instructions on the use and
maintenance of equipment shall be available to instrument operators.
(b) The laboratory shall properly maintain,
inspect, and clean all instruments. The laboratory shall establish procedures
for the maintenance of analytical instruments to prevent contamination or
deterioration that may affect reported results.
(c) The laboratory shall remove from service
all analytical instruments that give suspect results or that have been shown to
be defective or outside of performance specifications.
(d) When analytical instruments leave the
direct control of the laboratory for maintenance or for any other reason, the
laboratory shall ensure that the instruments are functional and that a new
initial calibration has passed to demonstrate that the instruments are in
satisfactory working order before returned to service.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Wisconsin may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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