Number: 2005-019-2-500
Title: Selection and use of proficiency testing schemes for
limited number of participants (chemical analytical laboratories)
Task Group
Chairman: A. Fajgelj
Members: S. Ellison,
I. Kuselman, U.
Sansone, and W.
Wegscheider
Objective:
To develop a guide for selection and use of proficiency testing
schemes for limited number of participants (chemical analytical laboratories).
Description:
The International Harmonised Protocol for the Proficiency Testing of
(Chemical) Analytical Laboratories adopted by IUPAC in 1993 has been
revised now. The ISO/DIS 13528 (provisional version) "Statistical
Methods for Use in Proficiency Testing by Interlaboratory Comparisons"
is under development as complementary standard to ISO/IEC Guide 43 "Proficiency
Testing by Interlaboratory Comparisons". However, all these documents
are mostly oriented on proficiency testing schemes for a relatively
large number of laboratories-participants (20 and more). The problem
may arise when proficiency testing scheme is to be organized - selected
and used - for a limited number of participants (less than 20), for
analysis of analytes specific for a local region, or for an industry
under development, or for analysis of non-stable analytes and similar.
It is appropriate now for the IUPAC WP QA to undertake a development
of such guide in addition to The IUPAC International Harmonised Protocol
for the Proficiency Testing of (Chemical) Analytical Laboratories (see
project 2001-009-1-500)
in light of necessity of quality assurance in chemical analytical laboratories
in the fields for which widely used international proficiency testing
schemes might not be applicable.
Progress:
The project just started, and the first task group meeting was held
in March 2006.
The principles have been discussed at the International Workshop "Combining
and Reporting Analytical Results. The Role of (metrological) Traceability
and (measurement) Uncertainty for Comparing Analytical Results",
Rome, Italy, 2006; at the International Congress of Analytical Sciences,
Moscow, Russia, 2006; and at the 3rd International Conference on Metrology.
Trends and applications in Calibration and Testing Laboratories, Tel
Aviv, Israel, 2006.
The project was reported also at the 21st CITAC Members Meeting, Moscow,
Russia, 2006, where the decision accepted was to support the guide development
by involving more CITAC members in the discussion.
A position paper on the topic "Implementation of proficiency testing
schemes for a limited number of participants" has been published
in ACQUAL 2007 [doi:10.1007/s00769-006-0247-0].
An additional paper "Comparability and compatibility of proficiency
testing results in schemes with a limited number of participants"
is also published in ACQUAL [doi:10.1007/s00769-007-0309-y].
> July 2007 report update (pdf
file - 11KB)
Last Update: 16 October 2007
<project announcement published in
Chem. Int.
Sep-Oct 2006>