OSAC Standards

In 2014 the federal government began an initiative to improve forensic sciences by forming OSAC, the Organization of Scientific Area Committees. The committees and subcommittees in OSAC, such as the Medicolegal Death Investigation subcommittee, write standards and other documents using a consensus process. Many NAME members participate in the standards development process at multiple levels, and NAME has agreed to support standards development.
NAME has identified 27 OSAC registry standards/documents pertinent to Medical Examiner/Coroner practice. The Executive Committee introduced NAME membership to these documents over the course of one year, by providing brief summaries and key points in each document also linking to the full document and supporting materials. (All documents in the OSAC registry are available to the public on the OSAC registry website. All 27 summaries are available on the NAME website.)

Definition of Standard: Specific benchmarks, requirements, or criteria set by regulatory or professional organizations. Normative practice. The word “shall” in a standard denotes a requirement. “Should” is a recommendation but not a requirement.

Basic OSAC and Standards Development Process: