European Turfgrass Laboratories’ A2LA Accreditation has been extended until April 2015.

An assessor from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) visited the European Turfgrass Laboratories (ETL) facility in Stirling, Scotland, to audit the quality system, testing procedures and staff.

The ETL is one of only ten laboratories globally to be accredited to the A2LA’s putting green materials programme.

Accreditation is a valuable and worthwhile process, aimed at verifying that a laboratory is proficient in their specialised field. The process is a very stringent one; ETL must participate in a proficiency testing program where three times a year, all the accredited laboratories are given the same rootzone, peat and gravel samples to test. The data is statistically analysed and any outlying results must be addressed. All documentation, calibration and operating procedures are kept up-to-date and monitored. Reference samples run alongside real samples which help to ensure that all equipment is performing adequately.

ETL’s clients are located all over the world, but the value of the accreditation means the same to everyone; they have peace of mind knowing that their results are accurate,the laboratory is completely independent and the turnaround time is as quick as the test methods allow.