A new approach to assessment of risks caused by human errors in performing a chemical analysis in a testing laboratory

Ilya Kuselman, Independent Consultant on Metrology, Modiin, Israel (ilya.kuselman@gmail.com)
Francesca R. Pennecchi, Istituto Nazionale Di Ricerca Metrologica , Turin, Italy
Tamar Gadrich, Braude College Of Engineering, Karmiel, Israel
D. Brynn Hibbert, School Of Chemistry, University Of New South Wales , Sydney, Australia
Angelique Botha, National Metrology Institute Of South Africa , Pretoria, South Africa
Anastasia A. Semenova, V. M. Gorbatov Federal Research Center For Food Systems, Moscow, Russian Federation

Decision-making risks caused by human errors in performing a chemical analysis are assessed using laboratory expert judgments in the form of responses on a specified ordinal scale. A new approach to the risk assessment is discussed based on implementation of the two-way ordinal analysis of variation (ORDANOVA). This approach calculates the number of expert responses related to the same category for each ordinal characteristic, and then analyzes their relative frequencies as fractions of the total number of responses (of all categories) obtained for this characteristic. It does not violate the properties of ordinal data and allows for the correct interpretation of expert responses. Previously published expert responses on the risks in pH measurements of groundwater, in gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) multi-residue pesticide analysis of fruits and vegetables, and in inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis of geological samples, are used as examples. The risk reduction by different components of the laboratory quality system is estimated under several error scenarios. Synergy of the system components in risk reduction is evaluated as correlation of the responses. Multinomial scores characterizing risk reduction by the laboratory quality system (as a whole) are calculated.

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Short Biography of Presenting Author

Ilya Kuselman, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5813-9051, has received his PhD in inorganic chemistry from Kalinin State University, and DSc in analytical chemistry – from R&D Institute for Rare Metal Industry, Moscow, Russia. Since 1971 to 1990 Ilya has been a researcher and then Head of Metrology in Chemistry Division of All-Union R&D Institute of Non-ferrous Secondary Metals, Donetsk, Ukraine, former USSR. Since 1991 to 2014 he was a co-worker and further Director of the National Physical Laboratory of Israel. Now Ilya is Independent Consultant on Metrology. He has published above 200 papers on metrology and quality in analytical chemistry. Ilya is a member of the CITAC and ISO/TC 334, IUPAC Analytical Chemistry Division and Subcommittee on Metrology in Chemistry.