Food, water and environmental laboratories play a vital role in protecting the public’s health by helping to ensure that food is safe to consume, waters are safe to drink and that environmental and recreational waters do not make people ill.
Proficiency testing (PT), or external quality assessment, provides laboratories with an independent external assessment of their performance. Regular participation in PT schemes is an important part of laboratory quality procedures to help ensure test results are accurate. Many laboratory results confirm that the samples they test comply with relevant legislation or guidelines and do not present a risk.
However, if an error occurs during sample analysis, this can have serious implications for both the laboratory and the client who may be a food manufacturer, hospital, public health body, retailer or water treatment company.
UKHSA PT schemes are suitable for food and water microbiology laboratories worldwide in the food and water industries, private sector, and the public health and environmental health sectors.
The UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) Food and Environmental Proficiency Testing Unit has over 25-years experience providing microbiology PT schemes for food, water and environmental laboratories in the UK and in over 70 countries worldwide.
About UK Health Security Agency
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is responsible for protecting every member of every community from the impact of infectious diseases, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents and other health threats.
We provide intellectual, scientific and operational leadership at national and local level, as well as on the global stage, to make the nation’s health secure.
UKHSA is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care.
