OSAC Stakeholder Outreach Meeting: Summary Report Page 1

OSAC Stakeholder Outreach Meeting: Summary Report

April 2021

INTRODUCTION 

On January 27, 2021, over 60 attendees participated in the Organization of Scientific Area Committees 

(OSAC) for Forensic Science’s first Stakeholder Outreach Meeting. The purpose of this, and future

meetings, is to formalize engagement with key stakeholder groups that advance OSAC’s mission which is 

to strengthen the nation’s use of forensic science by facilitating the development of scientifically sound 

standards and promoting the implementation of those standards throughout the forensic science 

community.

This initial meeting focused on standards developing 

organizations (SDOs), proficiency testing providers, 

accreditation bodies, and certification bodies. The

goal of the four-hour meeting was to provide an 

opportunity for a dialog between these stakeholders 

and OSAC leadership to exchange ideas on how to 

better support the forensic science community.

Through a series of facilitated discussions, meeting 

participants provided ideas, shared challenges, and 

identified opportunities for improvement related to 

the development and implementation of forensic 

science standards.

The feedback provided during this meeting was 

extremely valuable and will be used to help 

strengthen future collaboration opportunities with 

OSAC stakeholders as well as inform OSAC’s future 

plans and priorities. The next outreach meeting is being planned for crime laboratory directors and will 

be held late spring. Future outreach meetings are also being planned for professional forensic science 

organizations and representatives from forensic science commissions and advisory boards. 

This report provides summaries of the sessions and key takeaways from the meeting.

29%

18% 22%

31%

Meeting Attendees 

by Stakeholder Type

SDOs

Certification

Bodies

Proficiency Test

Providers

Accrediting

Bodies
OSAC Stakeholder Outreach Meeting: Summary Report Page 2

 

SESSION SUMMARIES 

Welcome and Introductions 

Laurel Farrell, Chair of the OSAC Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB), welcomed the meeting 

attendees1 and provided the opening remarks. OSAC was created to address a lack of discipline-specific 

forensic science standards. OSAC fills this gap by drafting proposed standards and sending them to 

SDOs, which further develop and publish them. The OSAC Registry contains SDO-published and OSACproposed standards that have passed a rigorous technical and quality review by OSAC members, 

including forensic science practitioners, research scientists, statisticians, and legal experts. OSAC 

encourages stakeholders in the forensic science community to use the standards on the Registry and 

implement them into their everyday practice. 

Key Takeaway:

• Standards development and implementation is a community effort that requires coordination 

among many forensic science stakeholders.

Session 1: Standards Developing Organizations 

SDOs are organizations (including professional societies, industry and trade associations and 

membership organizations) focused on developing, publishing, and disseminating technical standards 

using a consensus-based standards development process. At this session, John Paul Jones II, OSAC 

Program Manager, facilitated a discussion with attendees, representing four SDOs, to hear how OSAC’s

standard-related activities have impacted the SDO standards development process. Attendees also 

discussed current activities and new initiatives at their organizations related to forensic science 

standards development and advancement. 

Key Takeaways:

• Additional education about the SDO process and the terminology used in standards 

development is needed by the forensic science community.

• An integrated approach to standards development, involving participation from OSAC and SDO 

members, is necessary. For example, SDO members should be encouraged to join OSAC efforts 

and OSAC members should participate in SDO activities. 

• With OSAC’s new streamlined structure and processes, the hope is that high-quality draft 

standards will get to SDOs more efficiently. The impact of OSAC’s improved structure and 

process changes, however, is yet to be determined. 

• Continued communication and engagement between OSAC and SDOs are needed to advance 

standards development and implementation. 

1 See Appendix 1 for a list of the meeting attendees by organization.
OSAC Stakeholder Outreach Meeting: Summary Report Page 3

 

Session 2: Certification Bodies & Proficiency Testing Providers

Certification bodies confirm that an individual has acquired and demonstrated specialized knowledge, 

skills and abilities (KSAs). Proficiency testing (PT) providers supply the appropriate testing materials (the 

characteristics of which are not known to the participants) to forensic science service providers in order 

to verify that its operations are effective, and the quality of the work is being maintained. At this 

session, JP Jones facilitated a discussion with attendees, representing seven certification bodies and four 

proficiency testing providers, to better understand the familiarity these stakeholders have with OSAC 

draft standards, if they have incorporated standards into their programs, and the gaps that exist in 

standards that could better support certification and proficiency testing needs. 

Key Takeaways:

• Individuals seeking certification are evaluated based on their specialized knowledge, skills and 

abilities (KSAs), not whether they know the requirements of certain standards. As such, while 

certification bodies are aware of forensic science standards, they are not referencing specific 

standards in certification examination questions.

• Some PT providers are taking specific standards into consideration when designing proficiency 

tests. These stakeholders noted that having an available list of PT-related standards would be 

helpful.

• There is room to grow and improve relationships between OSAC and these stakeholder groups.

Session 3: Accreditation Bodies 

Accreditation bodies provide third-party evaluation of a laboratory’s management system for 

conformance to accreditation requirements and competence to perform the services provided. JP Jones 

facilitated the final discussion with attendees, representing six accreditation bodies, to hear if forensic 

science service providers are adding standards to their standard operating procedures and scope of

accreditation and to better understand the current challenges with auditing to discipline-specific 

forensic science standards.

Key Takeaways:

• Many forensic science service providers are not implementing standards because there is not a

requirement to do so. 

• Standards implementation is a heavy lift – there is a financial burden (e.g., maintaining 

laboratory equipment, accreditation costs) and other resource obligations (e.g., time taken away 

from case work for additional training and audits). 
OSAC Stakeholder Outreach Meeting: Summary Report Page 4

• Many other industries incorporate specific standards as published, usually test methods, into 

their scope of accreditation under ISO 17025. The forensic science field, however, is not familiar 

with this type of model (i.e., forensic science service providers are audited to their own standard 

operating procedures). Therefore, more awareness and education about how the forensic 

science accreditation process is currently executed versus how it is performed in other 

industries would be helpful. This further understanding may provide insight on whether the 

forensic science industry can incorporate other valuable quality efforts from external industries.

• Additional assessors and training will be needed for assessors to learn and be able to audit 

against discipline-specific forensic science standards that are being promoted by OSAC. 

• Standards development and implementation takes time. As a community, we are trying to get 

forensic science standards in place. Once they are in place, it will take time to implement them 

and advance the field. A clear path forward has not been identified, and a long-term plan for 

implementation is needed.

Next Steps 

OSAC and the FSSB have identified the following action items from this Stakeholder Outreach Meeting 

and are working to address them:

• Develop various training resources related to standards and the development process. 

• Work with stakeholders to ensure proposed standards are being drafted in the SDO’s required 

format.

• Enhance the OSAC Registry webpage to provide more public awareness that an OSAC Proposed 

Standard may be revised during the SDO process and include a link to the name of the SDO that 

will be working on each OSAC Proposed Standard on the Registry. 

• Provide additional information on standards that are in development or planned for 

development to aid these stakeholders

o COMPLETE – OSAC has made this information available on its website. To see a list of 

the standards under development or planned for development, see the OSAC Standards 

Activities on the OSAC website or visit the OSAC Work Products webpage. 

• Encourage all meeting attendees, or their organizations, to receive the OSAC Standards Bulletin.

o To receive the Standards Bulletin and other OSAC updates, join our mailing list. 

• Identify an OSAC Preferred Term for practitioner/examiner/analyst/technician/scientist to bring 

consistency to standards being published.

• Evaluate the role that OSAC should play in the development of “checklists” and/or examples to 

support standards on the OSAC Registry.

• Develop a long-term strategic plan for implementation of the standards on the OSAC Registry. 
OSAC Stakeholder Outreach Meeting: Summary Report Page 5 

Appendix 1 – Meeting Attendees by Organization 

Standards Developing Organizations

• AAFS Standards Board (ASB)

• American Dental Association (ADA)

• American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

• International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (U.S. Technical Advisory Group)

Certification Bodies

• American Board of Criminalistics (ABC)

• American Board of Forensic Toxicology (ABFT)

• Association of Firearms & Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE)

• International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI)

• International Association of Coroners & Medical Examiners (IACME)

• International Association for Identification (IAI)

• International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN)

Proficiency Testing Providers

• Collaborative Testing Services (CTS)

• College of American Pathologists (CAP)

• Forensic Assurance

• Ron Smith and Associates

Accreditation Bodies

• A2LA

• American Board of Forensic Toxicology (ABFT)

• ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB)

• International Accreditation Service (IAS)

• National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME)

• National Volunteer Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP)

• Perry Johnson Laboratory Accreditation Inc. (PJLA)

Other Organizations

• American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS)

• Consortium of Forensic Science Organizations (CFSO)

• OSAC Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB) members

• OSAC FSSB Outreach Task Group members

• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)