Health and Safety Executive (HSE) testing and monitoring helps you find the most effective ways to manage risk, prevent illness and injury and protect people at work.
Proficiency testing schemes operate by providing participating laboratories with test samples for analysis. Laboratories analyse the test samples, preferably as part of their normal routine, and reports the results to the scheme organisers. They are then provided with a report showing how closely their results agree with the accepted values.
Regular participation in a proficiency testing scheme:
- provides staff with an insight into their laboratory's performance
- benchmarks performance with that of other participant laboratories
- demonstrates to end users of analytical data, regulatory bodies and accreditation bodies that there is a commitment to measurement quality
Our schemes
We operate 5 proficiency testing schemes in support of workplace and environmental asbestos assessments. They are open to both UK and overseas participants:
- Asbestos in Materials Scheme (AIMS)
- Asbestos in Soils Scheme (AISS)
- Low Asbestos Content Scheme (LACS)
- Regular Inter-laboratory Counting Exchange (RICE)
- SEM Fibre Counting Scheme (SEMS)
Proficiency testing quality control samples
We have a wide range of quality control products and services available to purchase.
Proficiency testing schemes delivered in partnership
The air and stack emissions proficiency scheme (AIR PT) is a collaboration between HSE and LGC. It’s an International proficiency testing scheme for laboratories involved in air quality analysis.
The scheme combines HSE’s former workplace analysis scheme for proficiency (WASP) and LGC's Stack schemes, providing integrated proficiency testing that is specifically designed for laboratories performing chemical analysis of air monitoring samples.
The scheme is managed by LGC and is supported by technical experts at HSE, ensuring the test samples are as close as possible to those routinely analysed by laboratories (ambient, indoor, workplace air and stack emissions).
Find out more about the AIR PT on the LGC website.
Get in touch
For more information or to make an enquiry about HSE’s testing and monitoring services get in touch on GOV.UK.
Contact us