Laboratory Accreditation Standards and Guidelines for Nucleic Acid Detection and Analysis
Definitions
Table of contents
- A standard is the minimum standard for a procedure, method, staffing resource or laboratory facility that is required before a laboratory can attain accreditation.
- A guideline is a consensus recommendation for best practice and should be used if a higher standard of practice is appropriate, particularly when setting up or modifying a laboratory, or when contamination problems have occurred.
In each section of this document, points deemed important for practice are identified as either ‘standards’ or ‘guidelines’.
The use of the words ‘shall’ or ‘must’ in each standard within this document indicates a mandatory requirement for pathology practice; ‘should’ or ‘may’ is used to indicate guidelines or recommendations where compliance would be expected for good laboratory practice.
