OSAC Standards Bulletin 1 December 2017

BULLETIN SUMMARY

This Bulletin provides an update on forensic science standards that are moving through the development 

process at standards developing organizations (SDOs), and those that are moving through the Registry 

Approval Process at the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC). 

Please consider providing comments on documents that are open for comment.

OSAC Registry Standards items open for comment: 1 Item

SDO Documents open for comment: 0 Items

OSAC REGISTRY NEWS

Intent to add to the OSAC Registry – Items Open for Comment

ASTM E2329-17, Standard Practice for Identification of Seized Drugs.

Read the standard or submit a comment. 

Standards Moving Through the OSAC Registry Approval Process

This section only lists standards that moved from one step in the OSAC Registry Approval Process to another 

during the last month. A list of all standards currently under consideration is available on the OSAC website.

No documents have advanced through the OSAC Registry Approval Process in the last month.

OSAC Draft Standards Submitted to Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs)

OSAC developed the following draft standards and has submitted them to SDOs for formal development:

Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Subcommittee

The following draft standards were submitted to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences/American 

Standards Board (AAFS/ASB):

• BPA Guidelines for Report Writing in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis

• BPA Standard for the Validation of Procedures in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis

• BPA Standards for a Bloodstain Pattern Analyst's Training Program

• BPA Standards for Quality Assurance Program in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis

OSAC Standards Bulletin

December 2017
OSAC Standards Bulletin 2 December 2017

Seized Drugs Subcommittee

The following draft standards were submitted to ASTM:

• E2882 Standard Guide for Analysis of Clandestine Drug Laboratory Evidence 

OSAC Virtual Subcommittee on Training and Professional Development

The following draft standard was submitted to ASTM International E30.11 Interdisciplinary Forensic 

Standards:

• Guide for Training, Continuing Education and Professional Development in Forensic Science

STANDARDS DEVELOPING ORGANIZATION (SDO) NEWS

Comment Period Open on Draft Documents

There is currently nothing open for comment on draft standards.

New Work Proposals for New or Revised Standards

These new work proposals for new standards are just beginning development:

ASTM International E30.01 Criminalistics:

• ASTM WK61145 Revision of ASTM E1618 - 14 Standard Test Method for Ignitable Liquid Residues

in Extracts from Fire Debris Samples by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

• ASTM WK56743 Practice for Training in the Forensic Examination of Human Hair by Microscopy

• ASTM WK58029 Revision of ASTM E1413-2013 Practice for Separation of Ignitable Liquid

Residues from Fire Debris Samples by Dynamic Headspace Concentration

• ASTM WK45263 Revision of ASTM E2224-2010 Guide for Forensic Analysis of Fibers by Infrared

Spectroscopy

• ASTM WK49041 Revision of ASTM E1967-2011A Test Method for the Automated Determination of

Refractive Index of Glass Samples Using the Oil Immersion Method and a Phase Contrast

Microscope

ASTM International E30.11 Interdisciplinary:

• ASTM WK58575 Revision of ASTM E3016-2015 E1 Guide for Establishing Confidence in Digital

Forensic Results by Error Mitigation Analysis

American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Academy Standards Board (ASB):

Project Initiation Notification System (PINS) were published on page 4, in ANSI Standards Action on November 

17, 2017. This will begin a 30-day period for public comment on the initiation of the ASB’s work on the 

document listed below:

• BSR/ASB BPR 009-201x, Best Practice Recommendations for the Examination of Human Remains by

Forensic Pathologists in the Disaster Victim Identification Context (new standard)

Project Initiation Notification System (PINS) were published on page 13, in ANSI Standards Action on 

December 1, 2017. This will begin a 30-day period for public comment on the initiation of the ASB’s work on 

the document listed below:

• BSR/ASB Std 045-201x, Standard for Stature Estimation from Human Remains (new standard)
OSAC Standards Bulletin 3 December 2017

New Standards

There are currently no new completed forensics standards published this last month.

Revised/Reapproved Standards

These revised/reapproved standards are eligible for consideration by OSAC:

• AS 5388.1:2012 Forensic Analysis - Part 1: Recognition, Recording, Recovery, Transport and

Storage of Material has been revised to AS 5388.1:2012 (AMD 1 2017)

OTHER NEWS

American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Academy Standards Board (ASB):

The AAFS Standards Board has published its first technical report: ASB Technical Report 033, Terms and 

Definitions in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, First Edition, 2017. The Report is a list of recommended terms 

and definitions for bloodstain pattern analysis, which addresses basic bloodstain pattern types and related 

concepts. The OSAC’s Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Subcommittee provided the initial draft of this technical 

report to ASB for formal development through ASB procedures.