The second lab managers’ meeting of the South-East Asia Laboratory NETwork (SEALNET) took place on 19 - 23 November 2018 in ICAR-IISS (Indian Institute of Soil Science), Bhopal, India. Mr Muhammad Izzat Bin Ilmin, Lab Division, Department of Agriculture, Malaysia (2nd Day)

1. Internal quality control
Lab Division, Department of
Agriculture
MALAYSIA

2. Do you have and use an internal quality control
system
i.e. do you have a set of rules to detect analytical errors
within your laboratory?
YES
If yes, are these rules written?
YES
If yes, how often do you use your internal
quality control system?
Every batch of analysis

3. What are the characteristics of the material
used for quality control (QC)?
What kind of material is used to perform the quality control?
- natural soils? YES
- synthetic material? NO
- chemicals? YES
Is the material used for QC:
- prepared by yourself ? YES, Standard
Solution
- prepared out of the laboratory ? YES, PT samples
- bought to a company as a certified reference material ?
NO, still in future
planning.

4. Analysis of the control material
Are you using the control material for all your analytical parameters? NO
If 'NO' are you using it for:
- pH YES
- EC YES
- Carbon YES
- Nitrogen YES
- Available Phosphorus YES
- CEC YES
- Exchangeable K YES
- Exchangeable Na YES
- Exchangeable Mg YES
- Exchangeable Ca YES
- Sulphure YES
- Fe NO
- Al NO

5. Analysis of the control material
How often do you analyze your control material
- in every analytical batch
QC Calibration solution/sample is introduced in every batch of
soil analysis (maximum 10 samples) and is analyzed
simultaneously with other samples. If the recovered amounts
fall within the established acceptable range, the results of
that particular batch of samples are acceptable. Otherwise, all
samples within the batch will be retested on related
parameter.

6. Comparison of control material results to
specific statistical limits
Do you have a data base where the control material results are collected?
YES, in development.
Are you using quality charts to plot your results (like in the figure attached
this email)?
YES
Can you show an example of quality control chart obtained in your
laboratory?
YES

7. Example of Quality Control Chart

8. Example of Quality Control Chart

9. Comparison of control material results to
specific statistical limits
How do you determine the specific statistical limits for acceptable/rejection
limits?
QC is accepted when it falls within warning upper or lower limit. (Blue Line)
Warning Limit been determined by 2 x RSD for QC mean (collected through
every 30 batch of analysis)
If QC was exceed the Warning Limit, analysis will be repeat. If the repeat
analysis shows that QC fall back into acceptable Limit, the analysis results will
be accepted.

10. Comparison of control material results to
specific statistical limits
If QC exceeded the Control Limit (Maroon Line), new sample will be tested.
If the problems still occur, analysis will be stop and further investigation will
commence.
QC Control Limit is determined by 3 x RSD for QC mean.

11. Action after a negative results for quality control
In event of negative results for quality control, the analyst shall take the following
action:

12. Action after a negative results for quality
control

13. Staff qualification
Is there a quality control officer to look into the quality of the results?
YES
If YES, did she/he get some special training to do this control?
YES
If YES, please provide some short information on the type of training she/he received
Analytical and Statistical Training:
1.Measurement Uncertainty
2.Internal Audit for MS ISO/IEC 17025
3.Basic statistic
4.Method Validation and Verification
Does she/he continue to be trained on a regular basis?
YES,
Malaysian Government policy required the public services officer to undergoes 7 days
mandatory training annually.

14. Examples coming from your lab
QC Chart is still in development.
For the moment, we used data collected from Association of Agriculture
Laboratory of Malaysia (AGLaM) during its Proficiency Test program.
Samples tested were compared to the z-score obtain from the robust mean of
the PT Results.
The PT program was done very similar to the SealNET Ring Test.

15. Thanks for your attention