INRIM

The INRIM activities on the calibration laboratory accreditation, performed in the year 2005 through the IEN and IMGC dedicated structure and service, have been carried on in the framework of SIT - Servizio di Taratura in Italia.
After the re-organization done at the end of 2004, SIT - Servizio di Taratura in Italia continues to carry out the accreditation of calibration laboratories, in a unified way for every metrological sector, and the SIT Central Secretariat issues the accreditation attestations, whatever type of calibrations are carried out by the laboratories. This activity is notified by the decrees descending from law no. 273/1991 establishing the National Calibration System (SNT), and accepted in other countries, SIT being a signatory of EA-MLA and ILAC-MRA agreements on the free acceptance of foreign calibration certificates.

SIT participates actively in European and international bodies, such as European co-operation for Accreditation (EA) and International Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation (ILAC). SIT cooperates with the other Italian accreditation bodies like SINAL (testing Laboratories) and SINCERT (Quality assurance) also participating in the activity of FIDEA (Federazione Italiana degli Enti di Accreditamento). It collaborates in the development of quality assurance in calibration laboratories, in education and in training activity for technicians operating in the laboratories of public and private bodies.

During 2005, SIT extended the network of calibration laboratories. In the Mechanical Area SIT accredited 6 new laboratories, extended the accreditation of 15 laboratories, renewed the accreditation for 24 laboratories, and carried out the program of surveillance visits to 44 laboratories. In the Electrical Area SIT accredited 3 new laboratories, extended the accreditation of 6 laboratories, renewed the accreditation for 8 laboratories, and carried out the program of surveillance visits to 37 laboratories.

Geographical distribution of the SIT calibration
laboratories at the end of 2005.

The training activities were carried out with the organization of some courses for metrological experts, in cooperation with AICQ (Rome), EMIT LAS (Milan) and Istituto Guglielmo Tagliacarne (Rome). An internal training course for SIT assessors has been organized and will be finished in 2006, in order to upgrade knowledge of ISO standard 17025:2005 and of the SIT documentation and to prepare new SIT assessors.
For starting accreditation in the calibration area of measuring instruments for vehicle velocity, a training seminar/course was organized in co-operation with the experts of SAS (Switzerland). During the seminar, widely used calibration techniques were described for this type of instruments and traceability problems were analyzed.
The review of SIT documentation was performed, in order to achieve compliance with the new ISO standard 17011. The updating of the SIT operative documents to the new ISO 17025:2005 started and will be finished in the early months of 2006.

Participation in the EA Laboratory Committee and in its working group on interlaboratory comparisons (ILC) in calibration continued. Considerable efforts have been spent on editing technical guides as a support for the activities of the Calibration Laboratories. These documents have been developed with the collaboration of INRIM technical experts and of the technical group involving calibration experts from the accredited laboratories.

A wide interlaboratory comparison program was organized by SIT in 2005, in order to verify the calibration capabilities of the accredited laboratories. A total of 100 ILCs were carried out, employing different traveling standards, of which 65 were carried out in the Mechanical Area and 35 in the Electrical Area.
In the dimensional area, the ILC on gauge blocks involved 23 laboratories, and final reports were issued. In the mass measurement area, a new ILC was organized involving 18 laboratories; the exercise is expected to be performed before the first half of 2006. Other ILCs involving other measuring sectors were performed and were connected with the extension or renewal of SIT accreditation.
A new type of ILC has been performed in the measurement area of optical fibres and related test equipment. Three Laboratories have applied to extend the accredited activity for absolute power, linearity, attenuation and wavelength. For interlaboratory wavelength comparison, the transfer standards were two DFB lasers locked to molecular absorption lines of acetylene and hydrogen cyanide. INRIM was the pilot laboratory responsible for the circulation and the processing of results as well.
Also in the chemical area, SIT technical assessors organized an intercomparison activity regarding gas and liquid mixtures. Using certified reference materials, produced by foreign laboratories, the traceability was provided to new SIT laboratories and Italian reference material producers have been accredited.

Fibre spool and test equipment (wavelength meter,
reference sources and power meter).