Proficiency testing

The proficiency testing screen holds your PT plan and every round you take part in. It is the main evidence for clause 7.7.2, participation in interlaboratory comparisons. See Clause 7.7.

The plan

The plan is grouped by scope area: the test or calibration area a scheme covers, for example “Mass, 1 mg to 200 g” or “Total coliforms in water”. For each area you set how often it must be covered, in months. AccreditBook shows when the area was last covered and when it is next due, and puts the next due date on the dashboard.

A PT round

Field	What to enter
Scheme name	As named by the provider.
Provider	The PT provider.
Scope area	The area this round covers.
Frequency	Months between rounds for this area.
Planned on	When you intend to take part.
Sample received, submitted, report received	Dates as they happen.
Notes	Anything else.

The status moves through Planned, Enrolled, In progress, Submitted and Evaluated. A round can also be Cancelled. Upload the provider’s report to the round.

Results

Each round has a results table, one row per analyte or measurand:

Field	What to enter
Analyte or measurand	What was measured.
Reported value	Your result.
Assigned value	The provider’s value.
z-score or En number	As reported by the provider.
Outcome	Satisfactory, Questionable, Unsatisfactory or Not evaluated.
Evaluated on	Date you reviewed the result.

Unsatisfactory results

On an unsatisfactory result, Raise NCR creates a nonconformity already filled in with the source, the round and the result, and links the two records. The result row then shows the NCR number. Questionable results are a judgement call; many labs raise an NCR or record an investigation in Notes. Your quality manual should say which.

What the assessor looks for

That every area in your scope is covered at an appropriate frequency, that results were evaluated, and that unsatisfactory results led to action whose effectiveness was checked. The plan, the rounds, the results and the linked NCRs all go into the assessor pack.

First week

Enter the scope areas from your accreditation scope with a frequency for each, then the rounds you have already completed this cycle, with results. The plan will show any area with no round in the period. You can also import a PT plan from CSV (see Import).