A2LA accredits testing laboratories that perform the testing activities identified in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA).
Under the CPSIA, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) holds regulatory responsibility for protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or that can injure children. The CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products—such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals—contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years.
Laboratories that perform the testing activities identified in the CPSIA are required to be accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 by a recognized accreditation body, such as A2LA. An A2LA Scope of Accreditation must be issued to the laboratory which identifies the specific children’s product testing requirement in question (or other mandated consumer products). Once a valid Scope of Accreditation is issued by A2LA for the applicable testing activities, the laboratory must register electronically with the CPSC in order to be accepted and listed on their website. A2LA offers accreditation within this program to all types of testing laboratories, including in-house (i.e., captive) laboratories.
This specialty program is covered under the A2LA chemical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal fields of testing.
Program Requirements
- ISO/IEC 17025 General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories.