Occupational Proficiency Testing & Certification: A Critical Discourse on Indian Forensics

Introduction

Large number of ‘Occupational Proficiency Testing’ initiatives which emphasize the importance of the validation of analytical results are increasingly organized. Keeping aside the similarities of the schemes, there are many differences too at various levels like factors related to relationship with legislation, national status, type and quality of proficiency testing material, analytical range and priorities for future development. Accreditation and Quality Assurance is a forum applicable to quality, transparency and reliability of measurement results in chemical and biological sciences. Quality does not exist in a vacuum, whereas the governance, funding, procurement and provision of forensic science all play a major part. Achieving accreditation to a top quality standard is neither the start nor the top of improving quality. Engendering a real culture of quality requires ongoing leadership and investment in people, processes and innovation [1]. The use of proficiency testing is an important tool for validating uncertainty claims contained within a Scope of Accreditation. Therefore, the instability that has continued to be seen during this reporting year represents a big risk to quality. Accreditation is associated with a conformity assessment body, which conveys formal demonstration of competence. Laboratory accreditation is a process by which the body recognizes the competence for specific tests by following international standards. Reference Material Producers Accreditation gives formal recognition of competence to hold out the assembly of reference materials supported third party assessment and following international standards [2].

The work in Forensic Science Laboratories being interdisciplinary in nature is required to develop General Criteria for Laboratory Accreditation for accrediting Forensic Science Laboratories. Many laboratories operate in isolation from other laboratories and usually can’t match their data with others. Without such opportunities, there are risks that the details may have errors or biases. Proficiency testing provides a chance to undertake such comparisons and to provide appraisal of the laboratory’s data compared to reference values as well as to the performance of other laboratories. The results help laboratory managers with a confirmation about the laboratory’s performance and about the potential problems [3]. Comparison of the performance of a facility’s performance with that of other peer facilities, Monitoring of the long-term performance, Improvement in the performance of tests and identification of the causes of lesser PT results, and the use of corrective action to prevent them from re-occurring, Staff education, training, and competence monitoring, Evaluation of methods including the establishment of method precision and accuracy etc. Proficiency testing providers play an important role in the value chain for the assurance of products and services. According to ISO/IEC 17043:2010, proficiency testing (PT) is the evaluation of participant performance against per-established criteria by means of inter-laboratory comparisons [4].

Procedures

General Test methods and procedures used must be accepted in the field or supported by data gathered and recorded in a scientific manner. For e.g.: Examiners in serology must have access to well established population data bases on the distribution of all genetic markers which are typed in the laboratory and should have access to generate local population data bases on the distribution of all the genetic markers which are typed in the laboratory. Where sampling is carried out as a part of the test method, documented procedures that include a sampling plan using appropriate statistical techniques must be used. Accreditation cannot be granted for examinations that a laboratory has never performed or for which records of performance are not available.

Documentation Test methods and related procedures are documented and readily available to the examiners. Documentation of methods and procedures must include description of the sample to be examined, quantities to be determined and instrumentation required.

In Toxicology, independent performance assessment for laboratories who check upon routine quantification of therapeutic drugs is done. Concentrations of specific drugs at certain intervals in people, usually through blood samples is carried out. Monitoring of drugs is usually not required as they have a wide therapeutic index. Factors that influence serum drug levels are often noted and thus the testing process is completed [4]. For DNA analysis groundwork for using  next generation DNA sequencing  for human identification is laid. Scientific foundation reviews  DNA mixture interpretation is conducted and physical reference standards are manufactured to ensure better results [5].

Proficiency Testing Standards

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has a standard proficiency testing.

Role of Proficiency Testing and Certification (PTC)

The PTC oversees the ethics standards and self- regulatory processes thus serving to protect the integrity of the profession. Proficiency testing and certification helps in demonstrating competency and validating a laboratory’s measurement process. PTC can be used to validate a measurement method, technical training of personnel, traceability of standards, initiates reskilling and upskilling of the professionals, removes analytical bias and false positive and false negative, reduces the cases with no definite findings and estimation of measurement uncertainty. When a laboratory adds a new measurement or testing capability to accreditation. With the help of PTC laboratories can externally validate new measurement or testing process. PTC enables participants to confirm their ability to perform tests competently which is essential in the laboratory accreditation process, gives an early indication of potential problems or training requirements, encourages good performance and reinforce an interest in quality assurance, demonstrates an ability to comply with international regulations, provides a valuable source of information, provide the means to measure consistency across a group of laboratories [1, 12].

The purposes of PTC includes: a) Performance evaluation of laboratories b) Identification of problems in laboratories and initiation of improvement actions c) Effective establishment and comparability of test d) Identification of inter-laboratory differences e) Education of participating laboratories f) Validation of uncertainty claims

Problems and Pitfalls in India

Forensic science has transformed the criminal trial process. The potentiality of scientific evidence in criminal investigation is undisputed, but the role of the legal stakeholders in screening the evidence is always a controversial topic throughout the globe [4]. The most alarming thing is the reporting of some false convictions as a result of faulty forensic evidence and around 318 convicts who were convicted due to inappropriate evidence in India. Similar to the U.S. or U.K., in India the application of criminalistics is very less. The police will directly enter into the scene and disturb and evidences. The forensic scientific evidence is flowing into the courtroom in an incomplete nature and is an accepted fact in both forensic and legal community that if the evidence is not communicating to the courtroom in the form of probabilistic calculations, it is worthless since it is the only way in which the scientists can properly convey it to others [12]. Hesitation in implementation of PTC and the absence of guidelines by the Directorate of Forensic Science Services also serves as one of the major to the pitfalls in India.

Factors that affect the reliability of case specific application of techniques are: 1) Scientific uncertainty 2) Lack of research 3) Forensic science as neglected discipline 4) Absence of well defined code of ethics 5) Lack of certification to the technical personnel’s 6) Lack of national database for identification evidence 7) Lack of error rate statistics for techniques In the U.S. The National Institute of Forensic Science (NIFS) has about a national code of ethics for all forensic science disciplines. Quality assurance in forensic service is another challenge. The quality of the evidence depends on several factors like validation of a way, instrumental quality check, capacity of the persons employed, standard protocol, and accreditation of the crime labs and certification of the scientists. A compromise in these factors will directly affect the quality and reliability of test results [13].

Errors in Forensics and Miscarriage of Justice

A lack of universal, required professional certification in forensic science has often been a basis of criticism of the discipline [14]. The relationship between forensic science and miscarriages of justice is intricate and puzzling. Miscarriages of justice are usually unknowable [3]. Forensic science has emerged as a big contributor to miscarriages of justice. Scientists serving for the government sectors started believing that switching to private and in-house police labs will reduce interpretation impartiality, and thus resulting in accuracy of evidence. Issues related to the biasness in forensic science is never a new plot to discuss about. Scientists even admit the fact that they sometimes feel pressured to produce a particular result and even insufficient time to evaluate cases is another problem that exists. Usually obtaining information from the scientists are never too easy because they are prohibited from expressing opinions in public [15]. More and more cases are being broken into component parts and incomplete examinations are requested of personal laboratories because in-house police laboratories believe they’re saving money. Innocent people are being wrongly convicted and criminals are escaping justice due to the failure of the forensic science system thus resulting in wide- range of problems threatening the safety of justice. Forensic science has been performing crucially for years, with skills shortages and choices between operational deployments to be made along with ensuring basic quality-assurance measures. Evidence from some experts testifying in court aren’t scientifically justifiable, lack of funds have led to parts of the forensic science system operating at its capacity [13].

Problems with crime scene investigators raises a danger to contamination of the crime scenes. Forensic science malpractice, whether intentionally or accidentally made, increases risk to the criminal justice system. Like all critical professions, forensic science is also shown within the media as having negative impact on our criminal justice system is an injustice as the professionals are trying to nullify the errors in the field. To say a forensics mistake has led to an innocent man being held for five months on a charge of rape in the UK because of the DNA contamination during DNA extraction procedure [16].

Conclusion

Even if Proficiency Testing is not strictly required by the international standard, it is highly recommended by international committees and accreditation bodies. The accuracy of claims that faulty forensic science may be a leading explanation for wrongful convictions is still high. Proficiency testing is widely used across many scientific disciplines as an integral part of the quality control and risk reduction process. These schemes confirm the analytical laboratory with the ability to assess performance. The ongoing assessment of performance using proficiency testing allows the identification of areas for training and improvement and may also assist with audit processes.

Proficiency tests serve many purposes as they may be used to train personnel, promote baseline competency levels, improve laboratory practices and procedures, and identify future needs for a laboratory or technique. These are valid and important purposes. However, they are not the only purposes of proficiency tests and they are not of concern in the present article. Instead, this article focuses on using proficiency tests to identify reasonable first pass estimates for the rates at which various types of forensic errors occur. Researchers have long suggested that it is crucial to measure error rates for the various forensic sciences. Implementing strict protocols regarding the efficiency of the analysts, regular calibration of the instruments being used, checks on the procedure being followed in laboratories along with periodical certifications will bring a great change to this situation [20, 21].