The World Metrology Day project is realised jointly by the BIPM and the OIML and is celebrated on 20 May each year.

The theme for 2022 ‘Metrology in the Digital Era’ was chosen because digital technology is revolutionising our community, and is one of the most exciting trends in society today.

More widely metrology, the science of measurement, plays a central role in scientific discovery and innovation, industrial manufacturing and international trade, in improving the quality of life and in protecting the global environment.

The 2022 World Metrology Day website is now live and can be accessed here. The website includes the Press Release, Directors’ Message and a promotional poster which is available in English and French.

Please feel free to access these materials and use them to support and promote the importance of metrology and World Metrology Day.

AOAC INTERNATIONAL recently hosted its 135^th Annual Meeting & Exposition, August 27 – September 2, 2021. It was a hybrid meeting, with registrants having the option to attend onsite in Boston, MA or virtually online. Over 600 attendees represented more than 30 countries at the event. Highlights included:

• Opening session with keynote address from Dr. Temple Grandin and awards ceremony honoring hundreds of analytical science leaders.
• Two-day Analytical Solutions Forum featuring presentations on international capacity building for food safety, next generation biometrology, and the Internet of Things.
• Launch of new working groups for AOAC’s Stakeholder Program on Agent Detection Assays (SPADA) and of AOAC’s newest program, Analytical International Methods and Standards (AIMS).
• Scientific sessions on topics like next generation sequencing (NGS), magnetic resonance, COVID-19’s impact on virus testing in the food industry, AI utilization, and more.

Next up on AOAC’s events calendar are the 2022 Midyear Meeting, March 14 – 18, 2022 in Gaithersburg, MD, and the 2022 Annual Meeting & Exposition, August 26 – September 1, 2022 in Scottsdale, AZ. Visit https://www.aoac.org/meetings-and-events/ for more information.

In an effort to continuously collaborate with DRC’s laboratories on their accreditation processes,  ASCOLAB have worked with DRC’s laboratories to design an internal auditor coaching programme to meet their objectives.

After the completion of training on Internal auditing based on ISO/CEI 17025: 2017 and ISO 19011: 2018 and after learning the procedures, methodologies, and objectives that a high-quality internal audit must meet, the ASCOLAB experts guide delegates through the entire process and teach them exactly how to prepare thoroughly for their new competencies.

The ASCOLAB experts accompany internal auditor candidates’ local laboratories in all key steps of the audit, and assist in defining the scope, performing the risk analysis, formulation of non-conformances, and establishing the provisional plan, conducting the opening and closing meetings, presentation of the non-conformances, and the effectiveness of corrective actions.

ASCOLAB experts check whether they are aligned with the methodology and the auditing standards, and therefore meet all the quality requirements of the profession.

The ASCOLAB goal is to directly transform the laboratory’s first engagement into a success that brings added value to the laboratory organization.

Based on the online and on-site coaching, the objectives of ASCOLAB are:

• Developing an internal auditor’s cognitive abilities such as critical thinking and decision-making.
• Helping competent technical internal auditors improve specific competencies such as communication (including interviewing and presenting).
• Addressing cognitive and emotional issues that are hindering the internal auditor’s performance.

During 2021, four Internal Auditors of Central Laboratory of Panda GCM/BU/US have been qualified by ASCOLAB.

It has been a busy six months for Eurachem, despite the ongoing challenges presented by the pandemic. Travel restrictions meant that once again the General Assembly week and associated workshop in May were virtual events, rather than in Prague as we had hoped. Organised by Eurachem-Czech Republic, the workshop on ‘Trends and challenges in ensuring quality in analytical measurements’ discussed experiences with the revised ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and issues related to ensuring quality in medical laboratories, presented current Eurachem activities in the field of analytical quality assurance, and discussed future challenges from both research and practical perspectives. Copies of the workshop presentations are available on the Eurachem website and recordings are available on our YouTube channel.

Eurachem currently has three events in the diary for 2022 and we hope that those scheduled as face-to-face activities will be able to go ahead as planned:

• 19-17 January 2022 – free online workshop on ‘Assessment of performance and uncertainty in qualitative chemical analysis’ in collaboration with CITAC and hosted by Singapore Health Sciences Authority (HSA). See https://www.eurachem.org/index.php/events/workshops/394-wks-aqa2022 for details.
• 16-17 May 2022, Tbilisi, Georgia – workshop on ‘Quality assurance challenges of measurements from field to laboratory with a focus on ISO/IEC17025: 2017 requirements’. The workshop, organised by Eurachem-Georgia, will form part of the annual General Assembly week.
• 26-29 September 2022, Windsor, UK – 10^th Eurachem Workshop on ‘Proficiency Testing in analytical chemistry, microbiology and laboratory medicine’. Registration for this popular event is open at https://eurachem-pt2022.org/.

The Eurachem Working Groups have continued to be active in developing and updating guidance documents. The 2^nd edition of the Eurachem/CITAC guide on ‘Use of uncertainty information in compliance assessment’ was published in April. This edition has been amended to take into account the developments in a number of documents including ILAC G8 (Guidelines on decision rules and statements of conformity) and JCGM 106 (Evaluation of measurement data – The role of measurement uncertainty in conformity assessment). The Measurement Uncertainty and Traceability Working Group has also published an updated information leaflet on the use of uncertainty information in compliance assessment to accompany the guide.

The evaluation of uncertainties associated with sampling is an ongoing area of interest for many laboratories. The Sampling Uncertainty Working Group, in collaboration with the Royal Society of Chemistry Analytical Methods Committee (AMC) Sampling Uncertainty Working Group, recently published a new leaflet explaining the concept of the uncertainty factor (https://www.eurachem.org/index.php/publications/leaflets/uncertainty-factor).

Finally, work developing guidance on ‘Assessment of performance and uncertainty in qualitative chemical analysis’ is well advanced with a new guide expected to be published shortly.

In addition to its network of member countries, Eurachem also works through liaisons with stakeholder organisations that share common interests in measurement quality. In recent months the Eurachem Executive has been working to refresh and formalise its relationship with a number of key organisations. The first output of this activity was the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding with NMKL (Nordic Committee on Food Analysis) on 16 August. The MoU provides a framework for future collaboration, with a view to optimising resources to ensure maximum benefit for both organisations’ members and the wider analytical community.

If you would like to keep up to date with Eurachem activities you can:

• Follow our LinkedIn page https://eurachem.org/linkedin
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