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Session Topic: 9A, Accreditation Session

   

Paper Title: Can Proficiency Testing Add Value?

   

Date & Time: THURSDAY, August 8, 2002

 

8:30 - 10:00am PARALLEL SESSIONS - SESSION 9

   

Speaker: Henrik S. Nielsen HN Metrology Consulting, Inc.

Email: hsnielsen@HN-Metrology.com

   

Accreditation bodies are increasingly using proficiency testing as a tool to ensure the credibility of their accreditation programs by requiring the laboratories they accredit to demonstrate that they can live up to their uncertainty claims in interlaboratory comparisons. Accredited laboratories mostly see proficiency testing as an added expense they are forced to incur which adds little or no value. However, when used appropriately, proficiency testing can reduce a laboratory’s risk of producing incorrect measuring results. While focusing on the En (normalized error) approach, the paper explores the underlying assumptions and associated limitations in various reporting methods traditionally used in proficiency testing. It discusses the important steps that are necessary to ensure that correct conclusions are drawn from a proficiency test and the exposure and potential unnecessary cost participating laboratories are subject to, if these steps are not taken. Additionally, the paper covers some personal experiences, where the author has gained valuable knowledge of measuring processes and their limitations as a participant in interlaboratory comparisons.

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