OSAC Standards Bulletin – September 2021

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 September 2021

This Standards Bulletin from the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Science 

provides a monthly update on:

• Standards moving through the OSAC Registry approval processes for published and OSAC 

Proposed Standards. 

• Standards moving through the development process at standards developing organizations 

(SDOs).

Bulletin Summary:

• New standards added to the OSAC Registry: 7

• Standards open for comment for OSAC Registry approval: 6

• New SDO published standards: 5

• Standards open for comment at SDOs: 3

OSAC REGISTRY UPDATES

The OSAC Registry is a repository of high-quality, technically sound published and 

proposed standards for forensic science. These written documents define minimum 

requirements, best practices, standard protocols, and other guidance to help ensure 

that the results of forensic analyses are reliable and reproducible.

Seven New Standards Added to the OSAC Registry

SDO Published Standards (added September 7, 2021):

• ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 009, Best Practice Recommendations for the 

Examination of Human Remains by Forensic Pathologists in the Disaster Victim Identification

Context, First Edition, 2019.
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• ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 049, Best Practice Recommendation for Lifting of 

Footwear and Tire Impressions, First Edition, 2020.

• ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 089, Best Practice Recommendation for Facial 

Approximation in Forensic Anthropology, First Edition, 2020. 

• *ASTM E1588-20 Standard Practice for Gunshot Residue Analysis by Scanning Electron 

Microscopy/Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry. 

• *ASTM E3272-21 Standard Guide for Collection of Soils and Other Geological Evidence for 

Criminal Forensic Applications.

*Criminal justice agencies can access the ASTM standards listed above by visiting OSAC’s Access to Standards

webpage.

OSAC Proposed Standards (added September 7, 2021):

• OSAC 2021-N-0015, Guiding Principles for Scene Investigation and Reconstruction. 

• OSAC 2021-N-0016, Standard for Initial Response at Scenes by Law Enforcement. 

Standards Open for Comment for OSAC Registry Approval

SDO Published Standards

The OSAC Registry approval process for published standards is used to review existing SDO published 

standards for technical quality and placement on the Registry. Please submit your comments by 11:59 

p.m. ET on October 4, 2021 on whether the following SDO published standards should be included on 

the Registry.

• NFPA 921-21 Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigation. Submit your comments here. 

• NFPA 1033-22 Standard for Professional Qualifications for Fire Investigators. Submit your 

comments here. 

To date, the OSAC Registry contains 72 standards (64 SDO published and 8 OSAC Proposed Standards), 

representing 17 forensic science disciplines. 

Visit the OSAC Registry webpage to see the complete list and access these standards. 

Is your organization implementing standards on the OSAC Registry? 

Complete OSAC’s Standards Implementation Declaration Form and send it

to mark.stolorow@nist.gov to let us know. 
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OSAC Proposed Standards

The OSAC Registry approval process for OSAC Proposed Standards is used to review OSAC drafted 

standards for technical quality and placement on the Registry. The following OSAC draft proposed 

standards are being considered for submission to an SDO. The final draft provided to the SDO will be 

available on the OSAC Registry as an “OSAC Proposed Standard.” OSAC welcomes comments on whether 

the current draft is suitable for release to the SDO as well as suggestions for improvements in content 

and wording. To be considered, comments must be placed in the OSAC Comment Form and sent to 

comments@nist.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on October 4, 2021.

• OSAC 2021-S-0013, Standard Guide for Post Mortem Photography.

o OSAC 2021-S-0013 STRP Report | Task group response to STRP report

• OSAC 2021-N-0030, Terminology for a Suspected Pattern of Dental Origin.

• OSAC 2021-N-0035, Standard Guide for Scanning Facial Images for Manual Comparison.

• OSAC 2021-N-0039, Standard for a Mentorship Program in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis.

NOTE: OSAC Resource Task Group (RTG) members are encouraged to comment on these standards by 

downloading the RTG Comment Table found on the internal website and submitting it to forensics@nist.gov in 

accordance with the Registry approval process. 

SDO UPDATES

New SDO Published Standards

The following standards have recently been published by the Academy Standards Board (ASB):

• ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 008, Mass Fatality Scene Processing: Best Practice 

Recommendations for the Medicolegal Authority, First Edition, 2021. Initially drafted by OSAC’s 

Medicolegal Death Investigation Subcommittee and finalized by ASB’s Disaster Victim 

Identification Consensus Body, this document provides definitions, guidelines, and best 

practices for the detection, processing, and recovery of physical and contextual evidence 

associated with mass fatality disaster scenes to ensure that evidence is carefully and 

consistently documented and recovered in situ. This document focuses on terrestrial scenes that 

do not involve a significant hazardous materials component. 

• ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 050, Best Practice Recommendation for Photographic 

Documentation of Footwear and Tire Impression Evidence, First Edition, 2021. Initially drafted by 

OSAC’s Footwear & Tire Subcommittee and finalized by ASB’s Footwear and Tire Consensus 

Visit the OSAC website to see all the standards under consideration for the OSAC Registry, along with 

their status in the Registry approval process.
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Body, this document provides the best practice recommendations for personnel responsible for 

photographic documentation of footwear and tire impressions for future examinations. 

Deviations from this document may/may not preclude examination of captured images. The 

procedures included in this document may not cover all aspects of footwear and tire 

photography. This document is not intended as a substitute for training in the documentation 

and photography of footwear and tire track evidence.

• ANSI/ASB Standard 119, Standard for the Analytical Scope and Sensitivity of Forensic 

Toxicological Testing of Blood in Medicolegal Death Investigations, First Edition, 2021. Initially 

drafted by OSAC’s Forensic Toxicology Subcommittee and finalized by ASB’s Toxicology 

Consensus Body, this standard delineates the minimum requirements for target analytes and 

analytical sensitivity for the forensic toxicological testing of blood specimens collected in 

medicolegal death investigations. This standard does not cover the analysis of urine, tissues, or 

other specimens that are commonly analyzed in medicolegal death investigations.

• ANSI/ASB Standard 120, Standard for the Analytical Scope and Sensitivity of Forensic 

Toxicological Testing of Blood in Impaired Driving Investigations, First Edition, 2021. Initially 

drafted by OSAC’s Forensic Toxicology Subcommittee and finalized by ASB’s Toxicology 

Consensus Body, this standard delineates the minimum requirements for target analytes and 

analytical sensitivity for the forensic toxicological testing of blood specimens collected from 

drivers suspected of being impaired. This standard does not cover the analysis of breath, oral 

fluid, urine, or other specimen types collected in impaired driving investigations.

• ANSI/ASB Standard 131, Standard for Training in Forensic DNA Sequencing using Capillary 

Electrophoresis, First Edition, 2021. Initially drafted by OSAC’s Human Forensic Biology 

Subcommittee and finalized by ASB’s DNA Consensus Body, this standard provides the general 

requirements for a forensic DNA laboratory’s training program in forensic DNA sequencing using 

capillary electrophoresis. This standard applies to forensic human and wildlife mitochondrial 

DNA capillary electrophoresis sequencing, and wildlife nuclear DNA capillary electrophoresis 

sequencing.

Standards Open for Comment at SDOs

ASB: For the ASB documents listed below, download the comment template and return it to 

asb@aafs.org by the comment deadline. 

• Recirculation* – ASB Standard 096, Standard Method for the Examination and Documentation of 

Ammunition and Ammunition Components, First Edition. This standard provides procedures for 

the examination and documentation of ammunition and/or ammunition components by 

forensic firearm and toolmark examiners or technicians. Following these procedures, an 

examiner or technician will be able to document and report the examination of ammunition 

and/or ammunition components. This document does not cover the microscopic comparison of 

toolmarks on ammunition components. Comment deadline September 20, 2021. 

• Recirculation* – ASB Standard 136, Forensic Laboratory Standard for Prevention, Monitoring, 

and Mitigation of Human DNA Contamination, First Edition. This standard provides 

requirements for limiting, detecting, assessing the source of, and mitigating the effect of DNA 

contamination as applied to PCR-based human DNA analysis conducted within a forensic 

laboratory (i.e., casework and DNA database). Comment deadline September 27, 2021.

• ASB Best Practice Recommendation 160, Best Practice Recommendation for Initial Response at 

Scenes by Law Enforcement Officers, First Edition. This best practice recommendation provides 
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guidance for the initial response by law enforcement officers (LEOs) to scenes. The guidance 

includes: arrival procedure, safety considerations, medical intervention, assessing the scene, 

preventing scene contamination, scene containment and control, evidence identification and 

preservation, turning the scene over to investigators, and documenting actions and 

observations. It does not include guidance for a complete scene investigation. Comment 

deadline October 18, 2021.

*Comments on a re-circulation will only be accepted on revised sections of a document. Comments made to text 

not revised from the original comment period will not be accepted.

Work Proposals for New or Revised Standards

The following document is being initiated and is expected to result in a new or revised standard.

ASB:

• On August 20, 2021, a PINS was published on page two in the ANSI Standards Action. This will 

begin a 30-day period for public comment on the initiation of ASB’s work on the following 

document:

o BSR/ASB 148, Standard for Personal Identification in Forensic Anthropology. This 

standard provides approaches for establishing a personal identification in forensic 

anthropology using both scientific identification methods and contributory 

anthropological findings. This standard does not address identification of living 

individuals.

OTHER NEWS 

Register to Attend OSAC’s Annual Public Update Meeting

Want to know more about all the standards and other activities OSAC 

has been working on? Join us September 29, 2021 for OSAC’s Annual 

Public Update Meeting! This virtual event will feature presentations 

from the chairs of OSAC’s seven Scientific Area Committees and the 

Forensic Science Standards Board. Each presenter will describe their unit’s activities, including the 

standards they are working on, challenges being addressed, and priorities for the upcoming year. 

Attendees will also have an opportunity to ask questions and share feedback. Learn more and register. 

For a full list of forensic science standards that are currently open for comment at OSAC and SDOs, visit 

OSAC’s Standards Open for Comment webpage. This page consolidates and tracks comment deadlines 

for you and will be updated on a weekly basis.
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Other Forensic Science News, Events & Training

AAFS Standards Board (ASB)

The ASB has published an updated Manual and Style Guide for ASB Standards, Guidelines, Best Practice 

Recommendations, and Technical Reports and also has an ASB Supplemental Style Guide as a 

companion document to this manual. There are some significant changes to this updated version, 

including more detailed descriptions of the ASB document types, standards and best practice 

recommendations, and the addition of an ASB Guideline document type. There are additional details on 

Normative References, Terminology, and Scope writing. The manual and supplemental style guide are 

available on the ASB website.

Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence (CSAFE)

CSAFE invites forensic science practitioners to participate in a survey on how they prefer to learn about

new technologies, research studies, and statistics. The survey takes approximately five minutes to

complete and will be open until September 30, 2021. Learn more and take the survey.

CSAFE has announced the lineup for its fall 2021 webinar series, beginning September 22 and continuing

through December 9. The following webinars are free and open to the public. Researchers and members

of the forensics and statistics communities are encouraged to attend. Learn more and register.

• A Survey of Fingerprint Examiners’ Attitudes Towards Probabilistic Reporting | September 22

|11:00 a.m. – noon CDT

• Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Black Box Study | October 14 | 11:00 a.m. – noon CDT

• Using Mixture Models to Examine Group Differences: An Illustration Involving the Perceived

Strength of Forensic Science Evidence | December 9 | 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. CST

Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCoE)

NIJ’s FTCoE provides evidence-based resources about forensic technologies and emerging challenges.

On September 30, Lesley Hammer, Vice Chair of OSAC’s Physics/Pattern Interpretation SAC, will be

presenting at the upcoming FTCoE webinar, Footwear Evidence Conclusions: A Discussion of Standards,

Recommendations, and Structure. This webinar will provide an opportunity to discuss some of the postSWGTREAD considerations for articulating findings (interpretations, limitations, opinions, and results) as

well as a platform to exchange thoughts, consider suggested conclusion structures, and observe

examples related to articulating footwear evidence conclusions. Learn more and register.

National Institute of Justice (NIJ)

Subscribe to NIJ’s forensic list (https://nij.ojp.gov/subscribe) to see the latest NIJ awards, solicitations,

events, and publications.