Touch1 LV Checkout Manual - Page 15
Certificate
of
Calibration
How does everyone
know
you had an instrument calibrated
?
The calibration
certificate is the record of who, when, and by what equipment the instrument was
calibrated. A Touch1 LV Certificate of Calibration, which you can photocopy for your
calibration, is provided following this section.
Calibration Data Report
So just how accurate is the calibrated test instrument in relation to its published
specifications? Some organizations require that the measured values of a calibrated
instrument are written down when an instrument is calibrated. Calibration
laboratories typically charge extra to create a calibration data report. However when
a calibrated instrument is found to be out-of-tolerance, the calibration standards
require that the out-of-tolerance data be recorded in relation to the instruments
specifications. A calibration data report can fill this requirement. The Tester Checkout
Summary from the Touch1 tester can be used as a calibration data report. This report
can be printed or copied to paper by hand.
Traceability
Did qualified personnel perform the calibration procedure under controlled conditions,
using correctly calibrated instruments with the correct test accuracy ratios? To
maintain
traceability,
the answer to all these questions must be
yes
. Traceability
refers to each unbroken link of valid calibrations going back to national standards
such as those maintained by the NIST in the United States.
Several years ago NIST numbers (ie. reference numbers issued on NIST reports)
were commonly copied on successive calibration certificates as a means of showing
traceability. This practice has been discontinued. Therefore, if you are writing a
calibration procedure, do not require NIST numbers be copied on reports to show
traceability. NIST numbers are sometimes confused with other numbers that
calibration laboratories create for reference such as “asset numbers”, “NIST trace
numbers”, “ID numbers”, and report numbers. For more information regarding the
discontinued use of NIST numbers, Cirris can provide a copy of the position paper
from the National Conference of Standards Laboratories.
