Established in 1998, the Association of Testing Laboratories (ATL) is a not for profit organization comprising of member laboratories and associate members. The current membership stand at 86 Institute members (8 Life members) and 14 Associate members (03 Associate Life members ). Of the Institute members 16 are private sector medical laboratories. The constitution of ATL adopted in 1998 and revised later spells out the objectives and functioning of ATL.

The elected Executive Committee serves as the governing council and provides services to members to enhance their testing capabilities to assure reliability of the test results.

This will be a introduction text about the membership of ATL and the benifits and the importances of obtaining the membership of the same.

Click here to download the Application for Institutional membership

1. Inception

   
   The Association of Testing Laboratories (ATL) was initiated in 1998 with a view of enhancing interaction among testing laboratories based on an idea put forward by Mr. Agust Jonsson (then SIDA consultant to Department of Fisheries). A steering committee headed by Dr. C. C. S. De Silva of Bamber & Bruce Laboratory with assistance from Ms. S. Ambalavanar (Bamber & Bruce Laboratory), Ms. Subadra Jayasinghe (CISIR – now ITI) and Mr. Sunil Liyanarachchi of SLSI was formed to work out the constitution and initiate forming this organization. The Inauguration of the ATL was held at Renuka Hotel, Colombo under the auspices of Mr. Agust Jonsson and Mr. B. S. P. Mendis, Director General of SLSI on 25th September 1998.
   
   

2. Major activities
   
   
   1. Directory of Testing laboratories

      The ATL published two issues of Directory of Testing Laboratories in 2002 and 2007 The Directory contained information on activities undertaken by each laboratory along with contact details and accreditation status.
      
      

   2. Proficiency Testing programmes

      Proficiency Testing (PT) is a requirement to ensure the competence of laboratories in performing their testing services. PT programmes are available to laboratories by many foreign PT providers at very high costs and the laboratories have to bear the cost of courier fees also in addition to participation fee. Since successful participation is a requirement for laboratory accreditation, the local laboratories had to bear the financial burden which could not be passed down to their clients.
      
      The ATL therefore initiated conducting PT programmes initially for chemical analysis of Black tea with the assistance of Sri Lanka Tea Board and CISIR. This was followed by water microbiology PT scheme in association with the Medical Research Institute (MRI). The ATL then improved on these programmes and since 2007 with the assistance of the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) and regular PT programmes have been conducted in different fields resulting in comprehensive reports acceptable to accrediting bodies.
      In 2010, ATL initiated these programmes on their own, without the assistance of ITI and an advisory committee comprising of professionals in the field is appointed for this purpose.
      Considering the capabilities developed by ATL, a request has now been made to ATL by SLAB to commence PT programmes in medical testing.  The PT programmes in medical testing will definitely be a boon to the small laboratories that cannot afford the high costs of overseas PT providers.  These programmes will also be able to all laboratories irrespective of the fact that they are members or not.
      
      

   3. Training Seminars

      ATL conducted several training seminars in concurrence with the Annual General meetings. These focused on Laboratory Quality Management, Laboratory safety, waste management in medical laboratories etc. The awareness seminar on Medical Testing Laboratory Waste Management and new Regulations conducted in 2008 attracted a large number of medical testing laboratories and enabled the participants to obtain first hand information on the new regulations that are to be implemented with respect to medical waste disposal.
      In the year 2009, ATL successfully concluded a workshop on “Improve the service potential of your Medical Testing Laboratory by Redressing Quality” for 22 participants and an interactive seminar on Calibration which had to be repeated to accommodate the large number of participants (85).
      The 2010 Annual General Meeting of ATL was preceded by a seminar attended by over 100 participants from member laboratories, focused on providing valuable information on status of National Quality Infrastructure, need for Accreditation of laboratories and Traceability & Uncertainty in measurements.

       

   4. Medical Laboratory Technologists (MLT) educational programme

      The ATL embarked on this very ambitious programme in 2008 with the development of curriculum and the programme was started in January 2010. Approval from the Colombo Medical College Council (CMCC) is being sought to gain the recognition of Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC). The current programme includes 17 students from private sector laboratories which includes the leading laboratories such as Asiri, Durdans, Lanka Hospitals and Hemas. The faculty constitutes of eminent medical professionals in the field who provide the much needed theoretical aspects in medical laboratory technology. Practical training is also provided under the supervision of experienced medical personnel.
      A subsidized course fee of Rs.75,000/= is levied from each student and is payable in quarterly installments.
      
      

   5. Recognition of the Government of Sri Lanka

      The ATL has submitted the necessary documents to the Parliament of Sri Lanka through the then (2009) Ministry of Science and Technology for incorporation of ATL through an Act of Parliament. The first reading of the Act was done prior to dissolution of the Government in 2009. The recognition of the Government of Sri Lanka is a dire need for ATL to continue the services provided to members
      
      

   6. Office facilities

      The ATL moved into its own office at the “Vidya Mandira” belonging to the Sri Lanka Association for Advancement of Science (SLAAS) in 2009. The office is equipped with basic facilities such as Desk top Computer and printer (by courtesy of Mr. Agust Jonsson) and office furniture (by courtesy of a member).
      
      

3. Financial position

   The contribution of ATL members as annual membership fees (Rs. 1000/= for Institutional members and Rs. 500/= for Associate members) and Life membership (Rs. 10,000/= for Institutional members and Rs. 5000/= for Associate members) forms the foundation for funds. ATL maintains a savings account, a current account and a fixed deposit at the Hatton National Bank, Bambalapitiya and a current account at Bank of Ceylon, Torrington, which is dedicated for the MLT training course.