Nationally recognized standards meaning

Compliance with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025 2005 is essential if a laboratory is to become accredited for particular analytical procedures. External audit by a recognized national or international body is a prerequisite for this process. For example, in the United Kingdom, accreditation is awarded by the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) and in Canada by the Standards Council of Canada. The benefits of accreditation will be discussed in more detail below, but accreditation for a particular function by a recognized body means that the laboratory has been assessed against internationally recognized standards to demonstrate their competence, impartiality, and performance capability. 

This secondary or intermediate level has an important multiplier function. It is firmly linked to the national standards and provides traceable calibration means (mainly certified reference materials) and test samples to the workshop level, which consists essentially of chemical testing laboratories (including medical laboratories) which are required to give evidence to their customers that their measurement results are traceable to recognized references. In the case of medical laboratories, the traceability requirement also has a legal background. 

There are national codes of practice for the preparation of MSDSs. The current trend is to use an internationally recognized 16-point standard. This is a comprehensive document referring to how and where to obtain the information as well as including approved terms and forms of wording that must be avoided, for example, the use of N/A, which could mean either "not applicable" or "not available." Such terms should be written out in full. An outline of the international standard is included at the end of this chapter. 

Base metal Any metal that is not one of the precious metals. The term base means inferior or impure. Historically, gold and silver were the only precious metals people recognized, but today the elements silver, gold, platinum, palladium, iridium, gallium, rhodium, osmium, and ruthenium are all considered precious metals by the U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology. 

The Council resolution of 7 May 1985 showed the way by accepting that there could be more than one means of proof of conformity to a directive. It provided for presumption of conformity to a directive on the basis of a European harmonized standard, or, during a transition period, of national standards which have submitted and recognized as equivalent under Community control procedure. When the manufacturer complies with these standards, the directives allow him to make use of simplified certification mechanisms. When the product does not conform to a standard, however, either because the standards do not exist or because the manufacturer, for in the case of innovation, prefers to apply other manufacturing criteria of his own choice, the assessment of conformity to the essential requirements must [may] involve a third party either by certification or by third party testing [via notified/competent body]. (OJEC 89/C267/03)... 

The Council resolution of 7 May 1985 showed the way by accepting that there could be more than one means of proof of conformity to a directive. It provided for presumption of conformity to a directive on the basis of a European harmonized standard, or, during a transition period, of national standards which had been submitted and recognized as equivalent under Community control procedures. ... 

---