BOC IS FIRST GASES COMPANY IN U.S. TO ACHIEVE ISO 17025 ACCREDITATION

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BOC IS FIRST GASES COMPANY IN U.S. TO ACHIEVE ISO 17025 ACCREDITATION
05 May 2003 - BOC Gases

BOC has received accreditation for the international standard ISO 17025 for environmental and NIST traceable gas mixtures at its Royal Oak, Michigan facility. The accreditation from The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation is the first for any special gases company in the U.S. It formally recognizes BOC’s quality system for testing activities, as well as its technical competence in the determination of valid analytical test results.

"This accreditation marks a milestone event for BOC’s U.S. operations," says John Long, national quality manager for BOC special products. "This ISO 17025 accreditation is a first in our industry, and validates our procedures for environmental and NIST traceable gas mixtures. Ultimately, this accreditation will translate into a lower total cost of ownership for our customers."

The ISO 17025 standard is highly valued by the industries BOC serves, particularly the automotive industry. BOC has a long-standing relationship with many of the U.S. automotive manufacturers who have for some time indicated their preference for the ISO 17025 accreditation, and its applicability for their emission testing requirements. BOC’s accreditation will reduce their audit frequency, and ensure BOC’s conformance to a recognized standard in the production of gas products for emission testing applications. At least two additional accreditations for other BOC production facilities are scheduled for completion before the end of 2003.

A2LA, established in 1978, is a non-profit, public service, membership society endorsed by multiple federal and state agencies as well as private sector parties for their programs of assessment, verification and formal recognition of competent calibration and testing laboratories. Additionally, A2LA holds several mutual recognition arrangements with laboratory accreditation systems within the United States and around the globe. Consequently, BOC’s ISO 17025 accreditation is recognized by more than twenty-eight economies worldwide.

In order to achieve accreditation, BOC was required to demonstrate to A2LA its technical competence in performing specific analytical testing of environmental and NIST traceable gas mixtures. BOC also was required to evidence a program for the maintenance and operation of a quality system that addresses and conforms to all elements of the international standard.

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About: BOC Gases
Through its PGS line of business, BOC supplies gas and related solutions to the chemicals, petroleum, glass, water services, electronic packaging, fibre optics, hydrogen energy, metals and food industries. BOC helps meet customer needs in a variety of ways, from the supply of a single gas or application through to designing, constructing and operating fully integrated gas and utilities schemes.

The BOC Group, which serves two million customers in more than 50 countries, is one of the largest and most global of the world's leading gases companies. It employs some 44,500 people worldwide and had annual sales of over £4.3 billion in 2003. Further information about The BOC Group may be obtained on the Internet at www.boc.com

The BOC Group has an international portfolio of companies grouped for management control and reporting into three lines of business: Process Gas Solutions, Industrial and Special Products, and BOC Edwards. It also has a specialist logistics business, Gist.

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