develop consensus standards for use by TNI's programs. This group has a support role in assisting other programs with activities such as guidance and standards interpretation.
fosters the generation of data of known and documented quality is through the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, or NELAP. The purpose of this program is to establish and implement a program for the accreditation of environmental laboratories.
is to establish and maintain a national PT program to support TNI’s National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, and other activities.
Field Activities Program (NEFAP) Executive Committee is to establish and implement an accreditation program for field sampling and measurement organizations (FSMOs).
Audit Sample Program is to develop consensus standards for the manufacture and analysis of audit samples for source emission testing.
on a variety of topics of interest to the environmental measurement community. TNI also hosts two regularly scheduled meetings per year, typically in January and August. Both are a week long and involve open meetings of TNI committees as well as training courses and other special sessions.Standard Interpretation
Standard: 2016
Section: V1M2, Section 4.3.1 and 4.3.2.2
REQUEST:
The standard does not explicitly state that a laboratory must have a legitimate copy of the TNI standard. However section 4.3.1 indicates laboratories must "control all documents that form part of its management system" and specifically mentions standards. Section 4.3.2.2(a) states "authorized editions of appropriate documents are available." Do these two sections effectively ensure that laboratories must have a copy of the TNI standard? Note: Chris Gunning of A2LA uses these sections to require laboratories they accredit to have a copy of ISO 17025 or the TNI standard depending on which accreditation the laboratory is seeking.
TNI FINAL RESPONSE:
Because the TNI standard contains specific requirements that laboratories must address, and because these requirements are not universally available from other sources, yes, an authorized edition of the appropriate TNI standard revision under which the lab holds accreditation must be available within the laboratory’s controlled document system.