National Weights and Measures Laboratory
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The National Weights and Measures Laboratory (or NWML) is an organisation within the UK Government that is responsible for ensuring that measurement within the UK is accurate, fair and legal.
They are an executive agency of the Department of Trade and Industry and they are directly responsible to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science and Innovation, one of the department's ministerial team. The current Minister is Malcolm Wicks, MP. The current Chief Executive of the agency is Dr Jeff Llewellyn, appointed in 2002.[1]
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[edit] History
The agency was created in 1987 from a reorganisation of the Standards Department when it moved from its previous location in central London to a new, purpose-built laboratory in Teddington which was officially opened by HRH The Duke of Kent on the 9th of April.
[edit] Role
The NWML is part of the National Measurement System which is the UK's national infrastructure of laboratories that are involved with the science and technology of measurement. Under the system, NWML carries out regular projects. These projects are funded by the NMS itself and form the majority of the NWML's work.
The agency is responsible for examining and approving new measuring instruments and equipment, that are to be used for trade, in order to establish their compliance with national legislation such as the Weights and Measures Act 1985 and relevant EU legislation. The NWML also makes available to manufacturers of such equipment a consultancy service, intended to be used throughout different stages of the equipment's development. They also provide calibration and testing services to local authorities and private industries as well as training in aspects of legal metrology.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ NWML Annual Report and Accounts 2005-2006. www.nwml.gov.uk. NWML. Retrieved on November 7, 2006.
