Ethics and Integrity in the Commercial Environmental Laboratory Industry Insuring a Balanced Approach for Procurement, Laboratory Analysis and Data Production J. Farrell & D. Speis ACIL Mid Winter Meeting February 7, 2006 Washington, DC

2005 Meeting on Ethics and Integrity: Laboratory Focus Internal Programs - Training & Education  Clients & Employees - Compliance Monitoring  Proactive Approach

Controlling Client Ethical Confrontations Establish Client Expectations Effective Staff Training Solid Documentation Establishing the Ethical Boundary “Know When To Just Say No” Active Participation in Regulatory Rulemaking

Ethics & Integrity Continuum “No Hard Line” Regulatory Role - Expectation vs. Reality Client Role - Expectation vs. Reality Laboratory Role - Expectation vs. Reality

Regulatory Process & Expectations Rulemaking Process - Stakeholder Involvement - Responding to Stakeholder Involvement Accreditation - Ethics and Data Integrity Demonstrations

Client Processes and Expectations Procurement – One Sided - Low Bid - Commodity Perspective - E-Bid - Penalties Execution of Services - High Quality - Defensible Data (QC & Integrity) - Regulatory Agency Support Post Delivery Intervention - Data Changes - Laboratory Self- Discreditation - Regulatory Support

 Favorable Pricing  Prompt Execution  High Data Quality  High Data Integrity  Post Delivery Support Client Expectations for Laboratories

 Absence Of Loyalty  Absence Of Performance Incentives  Performance Taken For Granted  First Stop in the “Blame Game” Rewards of Meeting Client Expectations

ACIL Action Assuring Ethical Treatment  What Business Ethics Do We Expect From Colleagues? From Clients? From Regulators? Regulatory Process Client Process Communicating the Message  White Paper? Newsletter Articles? Integrating The Process “Getting the Message Across” (Group Discussion)