If your facility is considering accreditation by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA), you're on track to control quality, meet best practices, and ensure the safety of workers and the general public. The A2LA is an independent, nonprofit organization that provides accreditation services for various testing and calibration laboratories. Using recognized standards set by the International Organization for Standardization, A2LA accreditation can be a valuable tool in your laboratory's success. Read on to learn how.
What to Know About the A2LA Program
To earn A2LA accreditation is to gain a stamp of approval that carries international recognition. If A2LA-accredited, your facility has demonstrated to an independent third party that it meets or exceeds industry standards. These industry standards often include:
- Staff training and knowledge
- Testing method relevance
- Equipment and device calibration
- Working and safety conditions
- Environmental conditions
- Asset management
- Quality control
Benefits of A2LA Accreditation
Many organizations find that being A2LA-accredited brings operational and marketable benefits. Customers prefer the quality assurance that accreditation conveys that value lower-risk, reliable products and, in some instances, are willing to pay a premium for accredited lab services.
Labs with A2LA accreditation operate with a higher focus on safety, putting them at lower risk for incidents and are able to respond more quickly if issues do arise. These streamlined processes reduce errors and benefits the laboratory's bottom line by reducing waste in materials and labor. Additionally, labs can use A2LA's accreditation program as a resource to help navigate common key operational challenges like process consistency, expenditures, and customer expectations.
Automated Monitoring Tools for A2LA Accreditation
While the types of laboratories accredited by A2LA vary, there are common challenges among them. One is ensuring environmental conditions facilitate contaminant control, asset integrity, worker safety, and equipment accuracy. This overarching component of compliance can be addressed through the implementation of an automated monitoring system that collects data, monitors conditions, and alerts personnel when variances occur.
OneVue Sense® provides a solution that can help monitor environmental conditions like temperature and humidity. The portable technology is easy to install and can alert staff to temperature variances and indoor air quality measurements. Staff can receive text message, email, or phone call alerts for any temperature excursion, allowing plenty of time for corrective action before asset ruination.
The cloud-based OneVue® software platform stores sensor-captured data for 24/7 viewing, even on mobile devices during off hours. Users can also take this data and create on-demand reports that demonstrate adherence to standards that align with A2LA accreditation. This makes proving compliance during auditing situations a breeze. Facility managers can be confident that medications, samples, and other assets will remain within compliance requirements.
The OneVue Sense portfolio options provide reliable, highly accurate data with calibrated probes and thermobuffers that simulate refrigerated assets' actual temperatures and minimize false readings from minor fluctuations. The system eliminates the need to manually record data and allows you to confirm the integrity of controlled areas through the web-based software platform.
Managing Personnel Traffic in Restricted Access Areas
To maintain A2LA accreditation, followed standards require that personnel accessing restricted areas are fully trained with relevant protocols. Monitoring access to restricted areas can be achieved with OneVue Sense Contact Closure Monitoring. This solution utilizes small, OneVue Sense-connected magnetic strips that can measure and record the contacts' opening and closing. They are easy to install on doors, cabinets, and refrigeration units. When used as part of the web-based OneVue software, the solution can reduce manual recording without compromising assurance.
Meeting Environmental Monitoring Challenges With Confidence
OneVue Sense solutions are valuable tools to help any lab achieve A2LA accreditation, as well as the compliance guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other governing bodies. The versatility of OneVue Sense installation options and the technology's multiple power options, including battery, AC, and some with Power over Ethernet (POE), make it an ideal solution for laboratory protocols. With OneVue Sense, maintaining accreditation compliance standards can be done accurately and simply through automated temperature monitoring and easy-to-create, comprehensive documentation.
Learn more about how OneVue can support your laboratory's A2LA accreditation by contacting us today.
*This blog article was originally written in 2021 and updated in January 2026.
References:
American Association for Laboratory Accreditation - Accreditation
Sage Journal - The Detection and Prevention of Errors in Laboratory Medicine
