User:Slrellison/Eurachem

Eurachem is a non-profit organization set up to promote quality in chemical measurement science.

Origin and history
Eurachem was founded in 1989 with representatives from 12 countries: Austria, Belgium, Ireland, FRG, Finland, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. Following initial formation, the organization prepared a formal memorandum of understanding , signed on 26 June 1990 by the twelve founding representatives, by representatives from Denmark and Switzerland on 4 October 1990 and by Portugal and Luxembourg in October 1990.

A 25-year perspective has been published to mark the 25th anniversary of the organization.

Aims
Eurachem has the stated objective of "... establishing a system for the international traceability of chemical measurements and the promotion of good quality practices. It provides a forum for the discussion of common problems and for developing an informed and considered approach to both technical and policy issues."

Structure and legal status
Eurachem is an association of national organisations, each with is own national network of laboratories. It is not an independent legal entity. It operates according to a governing memorandum of understanding between its members and a number of policies for particular aspects of governance and operation. The principal governing body is the Eurachem General Assembly; in addition, an Executive Committee is empowered to make operational decisions. The executive is headed by a chairman and two vice-chairs, together with a secretary. The present Chair (May 2014) is professor Wolfhard Wegscheider of the University of Leoben.

Technical work is carried out by a number of different technical working groups. The different groups cover education and training, measurement uncertainty and traceability, proficiency testing, qualitative analysis, uncertainty from sampling and analytical method validation.

Principal activities
Eurachem fulfills its aims principally by publishing technical guidance on topics relating to laboratory accreditation againse ISO/IEC 17025 and quality management, and by arranging international workshops on related topics. Most technical guidance is available in English without charge, though member organizations may translate guidance into their own language and may charge for access or hard copy.

Guidance published up to May 2014 included twelve published Guides and six information leaflets. Current Eurachem Guides cover:
 * Terminology
 * Metrological traceability
 * Selection and use of reference materials
 * Quality management for analytical chemistry laboratories
 * Accreditation for microbiology laboratories
 * Selection and use of laboratory proficiency testing schemes
 * Evaluation of measurement uncertainty in Analytical Measurement
 * Evaluation of uncertainty arising from sampling
 * Using measurement uncertainty information in compliance assessment
 * Analytical method validation
 * Use of analytical recovery information (with IUPAC)
 * Quality assurance for analytical R&D and non-routine analysis

Workshops are organised by member organisations; workshop topics between 2010 and 2014 included:
 * Validation, Traceability and Measurement Uncertainty (2000, 2012)
 * Education & Training (2004)
 * Proficiency Testing (2000, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2011)
 * Measurement Uncertainty (2000, 2002, 2008, 2011)
 * Reference Materials (2000)
 * Sampling (2001, 2008)
 * Metrology and QA (2008, 2009, 2010)
 * Decision making (2008, 2010)
 * Internal Quality Control (2012)
 * QA of measurements from Field to Laboratory (2013)

Available information from recent workshops is made available on the Eurachem website.

Related organizations
Eurachem has formal liaison links with a range of other European and international organizations. International links include ISO, via ISO REMCO ; the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC); IUPAC; and CITAC (with which some guides are jointly published through joint working groups). European organizations with links to Eurachem include Eurolab, the European Co-operation for accreditation EA and the European association of national metrology institutes Euramet.