OSAC Adds Two New Standards to Registry and Opens Comment Period on Two Disaster Victim Identification Standards

Two New Standards Placed on OSAC Registry

The Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC) is excited to announce the Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB) has approved the addition of two standards for listing on the OSAC Registry.  The OSAC Registry serves as a trusted repository of high-quality, science-based standards and guidelines for the practice of forensic science.  To be placed on the Registry, a standard or guideline must have been developed using a consensus-based process and passed the OSAC technical merit review by forensic practitioners, academic researchers, statisticians, and measurement scientists. OSAC encourages the adoption of standards listed on the OSAC Registry by all relevant agencies and practitioners.

The two latest OSAC Registry Approved standards include:

• ISO/IEC 17025:2017 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories (from an OSAC Interdisciplinary Virtual Subcommittee, June 18, 2019).  This document contains requirements for laboratories to enable them to demonstrate they operate competently and can generate valid results, thereby promoting confidence in their work.  Many forensic science laboratories are accredited under the 2005 version of this standard and are progressing to meet the updated requirements in the 2017 version.  As such, the 2005 version of this standard will also remain on the OSAC Registry through December 2020 to accommodate those laboratories making the transition to the 2017 version.  OSAC supports this transition to meeting the requirements of the updated standard. In addition to laboratories, this standard is also useful to universities, research centers, government agencies, regulators, inspection bodies, and conformity assessment bodies with the need to do testing, sampling, or calibration.
• ANSI/ASB Standard 017, Standard Practices for Measurement Traceability in Forensic Toxicology, First Edition, 2018 (from the OSAC Toxicology Subcommittee, June 18, 2019).  This standard defines the minimum requirements for establishing measurement traceability in forensic toxicology laboratories.  This is the first forensic toxicology standard to be placed on the OSAC Registry.  The OSAC Toxicology Subcommittee is championing many more standards through both the standards development process and the OSAC Registry Approval process to continue to enhance the discipline.

Comment Period Now Open for Two Disaster Victim Identification Standards

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Additionally, OSAC’s Disaster Victim Identification Subcommittee has submitted two documents for placement on the OSAC Registry.  OSAC has opened a thirty-day comment period to collect specific feedback to determine whether the following documents should be placed on the Registry (OSAC is not asking for potential revisions to the documents themselves):

• ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 007, Postmortem Impression Submission Strategy for Comprehensive Searches of Essential Automated Fingerprint Identification System Databases, First Edition, 2018.  The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to medical examiners, coroners, and investigators regarding the submission of recorded postmortem impressions for comprehensive searches of essential automated fingerprint identification system databases.  Please provide your comments by 11:59 PM EST on July 18, 2019.
• ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 010, Forensic Anthropology in Disaster Victim Identification: Best Practice Recommendations for the Medicolegal Authority, First Edition 2018.  This document provides guidelines and best practices relevant to the role of forensic anthropology in a disaster victim operation.  Focus in this document will be primarily on the Triage Station during the initial sorting of material gathered from the field and determining what human tissue enters the morgue, and at the Anthropology Station when collecting quality postmortem data from each morgue sample.  Please provide your comments by 11:59 PM EST on July 18, 2019.

For a complete list of the OSAC Registry Approved Standards and standards under consideration, please visit the OSAC website.