STANDARDS CORNER
TOMORROW, Guyana joins with the rest of the world to celebrate World Metrology Day 2011 under the theme “Chemical measurements for our life, our future”. Metrology, which is the science of measurement is utilized in almost all aspects of our daily life and is very important in trade and development globally. Measurement provides the basis for industrial development and is of utmost importance to manufacturing, product testing, and food processing; fair trade and consumer protection in the domestic and international arenas; consumer confidence; health and safety; environmental monitoring; adoption of new technology and scientific advancements. It also provides the framework in which manufacturers can demonstrate compliance with specifications within an internally harmonized system.
In keeping with this year’s theme, chemistry and chemicals pose particularly interesting challenges to the measurement community: thousands of compounds must be measured, and the range of concentrations at which some compounds must be reliably detected, quantified, and in some cases regulated can nowadays extend down to parts per billion (or even trillion).
Yet the ability to make appropriately accurate and reliable chemical measurements is crucial to our economy, our environment and our personal well being. In short, we must not underestimate the importance of chemical measurements for our life, our future.
National measurement systems must rely on agreed standards, units, and techniques to make consistent, reproducible and accurate measurements. Each system of national measurement standards and laboratories is then linked into a world-wide network coordinated by the international Bureau of Weights and Measures.
This network gives society access to accurate measurements in order to meet today’s challenges in healthcare, within the environment and in all the new technologies and processes. In industry and commerce, it helps ensure product quality and interoperability, eliminates waste, raises productivity, and facilitates trade based on agreed measurements and tests.
It also enables scientists to use a common language to underpin their collaboration across the world and ensure that their exploits can be taken up and accurately reproduced by companies wherever they operate.
National and regional metrological regulations must be based on agreed technical requirements in order to help avoid or eliminate technical barriers to trade, ensure fair trade practice, care for the environment and maintain a satisfactory healthcare system.
The International Organisation of Legal Metrology (OIML) has developed a worldwide technical structure by means of which it provides its members with technical recommendations and documents as well as guides, vocabularies and other publications.
This year, in their messages to the world of metrology, governments, companies, academics, and indeed to the man or woman in the street, the Directors of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and of the International Bureau of Legal Metrology both highlighted the importance of accurate, reliable and internationally accepted chemical measurements in the modern world as it deals with today’s grand challenges. The Guyana National Bureau of Standards as the organisation responsible for weights and measures and metrology in Guyana supports the workings of these organizations as continuous and collaborative efforts are made to meet the demands and overcome the challenges in the field of Metrology.
As part of its World Metrology Activities, the general public is invited to the GNBS OPEN DAY on Friday, May 20, 2011 from 09:00 – 15:00 h