TWGFEX / SWGMAT
Definition
Technical Working Group for Fire and Explosion Investigation (now the OSAC Ignitable Liquids, Explosives, and Gunshot Residue Subcommittee): the US body that publishes guidelines for post-blast scene investigation, explosive residue collection, and analytical methods, aligned with ENFSI Explosives Working Group internationally.
- Current name
- OSAC Ignitable Liquids, Explosives, and Gunshot Residue Subcommittee
- Country
- United States
- Scope
- Post-blast scene investigation, residue collection, analytical methods
- International counterpart
- ENFSI Explosives Working Group
Common questions
Why has the group's name and structure changed over time?+
US forensic standards bodies were reorganised under NIST's Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) framework, which folded earlier technical working groups such as TWGFEX into subject-matter subcommittees to standardise how forensic discipline guidelines are developed and reviewed nationally.
How does alignment with ENFSI's Explosives Working Group benefit casework?+
Coordinated guidelines mean evidence collected and analysed in one jurisdiction using compatible methods can be more readily compared or shared with laboratories in another, which matters in cross-border explosives investigations and international proficiency testing.
Related terms
- ASTM E1492
- Standard Practice for Receiving, Documenting, Storing, and Retrieving Evidence in a Forensic Science Laboratory: establishes container requirements for fire debris (metal can...
- BSA 2023 (Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023)
- India's evidence law that replaced the Indian Evidence Act 1872, governing the admissibility of documents and expert opinions in Indian courts; together...
- Chain of Custody (CoC)
- The documented sequence of individuals who had possession of, access to, or control over a physical exhibit from the moment of its...
- Court Sample
- In India under the NDPS (Seizure, Storage, Sampling and Disposal) Rules 2014, a duplicate sealed sample drawn at the time of seizure...
- DEA Form DEA-7
- The US Drug Enforcement Administration's Report of Drug Property Collected, Purchased or Seized: the primary chain-of-custody document that records every custodian, transfer...
- FSR Codes of Practice and Conduct
- Mandatory requirements issued by the UK Forensic Science Regulator under the Forensic Science Regulator Act 2021, governing exhibit management, method validation, contamination...
- Mahazar (Panchnama)
- In Indian criminal procedure, a document drawn at the time of search and seizure in the presence of independent witnesses (Panchas), recording...
- Permeability (Packaging)
- The rate at which molecules of a gas or vapour pass through a solid membrane. Polyethylene has significant permeability to volatile organic...
- Tamper-Evident Sealing
- Packaging closure that makes any opening of the package visible: heat-sealed bags, security adhesive tape with a void pattern that transfers on...