OSHA criteria for laboratory proficiency in blood lead analysis.

The OSHA lead standard, 29 CFR 1910.1025, was established to protect the health of workers exposed to the hazards of lead. The standard lists specific requirements to ensure that blood lead analyses--critical indicators of workers at risk--be performed reliably by laboratories. Employers must be laboratories that meet OSHA performance criteria in blood lead proficiency testing programs monitored by the Centers for Disease Control and certain States. This proficiency testing requires that, as a minimum, laboratories must report the equivalent of eight out of nine samples within acceptable limits for the most recent three quarters or similar period. For compliance purposes, OSHA circulates to its staff a "List of Laboratories Approved for Blood Lead Analysis" each quarter.