ASTM Committee D05 on Coal and Coke is currently developing a proposed new standard, WK10380, Practice for Establishing the Competence of Laboratories Using ASTM Procedures in the Sampling and Analysis of Coal and Coke. The proposed standard will specify requirements for establishing, operating and evaluating a laboratory that provides services in the areas of sample collection and preparation and testing of coal, coke or combustion residues using ASTM Committee D05 standards.

The proposed new standard, which is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee D05.30 on Quality Assurance, has its origins in American National Standard/International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission 17025, a document recognized by ASTM International as the official standard for specifying general requirements for competence of testing and calibration laboratories.

Interested parties are encouraged to participate in the further development of WK10380. "Our job within D05 is to complete the quality assurance bridge from coal-specific requirements to the general requirements cited in ANS/ISO/IEC 17025," says Lou Janke, president, Quality Associates International Canada Ltd. "We are well-equipped to do this, but would welcome external input as to the approach we are employing."

For further technical information, contact Louis Janke, Quality Associates International Canada Ltd., Douglas, Ontario, Canada (phone: 613/649-2111; louisjanke@renc.igs.net). Committee D05 will meet May 14-17, at the May Committee Week in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. For membership or meeting details, contact Scott Orthey, ASTM International (phone: 610/832-9730; sorthey@astm.org).

ASTM International standards are available from Customer Service (phone: 610/832-9585; https://www.astm.org/contact) or the Web site store (www.astm.org).

Release #7349