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: 2003 NELAC
Section: Appendix D.3.8.b.2)iv)
Link to relevant standard
REQUEST:
What does "autoclave maintenance... shall include a pressure check" mean? Does that specifically mean that the pressure relief valve shall be checked and documented? If would be extremely helpful if these sections could be written more specifically.
TNI FINAL RESPONSE:
(Quality System Expert Committee/NELAP Accreditation Council, 1-x-11)
This suggestion is posted on the interpretations page of TNI: Autoclave Performance - With regard to the pressure check: since PV=nRT, checking the temperature and assuring no leaks (so that V is constant) is sufficient to meet the requirements of the standard.
Another suggestion: A note could be made in a log book indicating that seals were checked and no cracks were found.