Simon Feary the Director of IRCA is interviewed for IRCA inform on the impact that ISO17024 will have for auditing certification. He highlights the potential discrepancies between what the market is used to and their expectations and what some ISO17024 approaches are looking to deliver, especially the examination only option for certification. So it looks like IRCA will be holding a "business as normal" approach.
Talks with UKAS seem to be moving forward and it will be interesting how IRCA looks to implement a competency based model whilst balancing market needs and their tried and tested approach to certification.
The IRCA interview (Korea edition)
In the first of a new series in which INform talks to IRCA director, Simon Feary, about the very latest issues in auditing and certification, we find out about ISO 17024
Question: What effects do you think ISO 17024, the new personnel accreditation standard, will have on IRCA and on auditor certification in general?
There has been a great deal of comment about this standard from those involved in auditor certification. Much discussion focuses on the necessity of a 'radical' change in the way we, the auditor certification bodies, operate. However, I'm not sure the word radical should be associated with this standard... more
Hopefully this will be the first of a few helpful posts around the subject of ISO17024 (General Requirements for Bodies operating Certification of Persons).
What it ISO17024?
Released in 2003, ISO 17024 is designed to harmonize the personnel certification process worldwide. There is still much debate as to the effectiveness of the standard to date, especially with the variability in how it is applied by Accreditation Bodies globally.
The issues that ISO 17024 tackles can be simply summarized:
- Defining what it is you are examine (the competencies)
- Knowledge, skills and personal attributes
- Examination must be independent
- Examination must be a valid test of competence
Where competency is typically described as:
”The demonstrated ability to apply knowledge, skills and attributes”
Guidance
Each Accreditation body provides various levels of guidance around compliance and the implementation of ISO 17024. I have attempted to bring together the more in-depth references below:
American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Overview of Personnel Certification Documents related to accreditation under ISO 17024
ISO 17024 FAQ
Directory of Accredited Bodies
Standards Council Canada (SCC)
Overview of Personnel Certification Criteria and Procedures
Directory of Accredited Clients
Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand (JAZ-ANZ)
Personnel Certification Homepage
United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS)
Certification Body Schedules
International Accreditation Forum (IAF)
ISO 17024 Guidance
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
Link to ISO 17024
So as the very first post on this blog I simply want to compile an up-to-date list of the organizations, papers and feeds that have been making a big impact in the world of personnel certification. This first post is starting off small but the information will grow over time.
As we all know significant debate is happening around the focus on skills and competency based certification. The purpose of this blog is simply to have a central point where information is gathered for convenience. I'll leave the cut and thrust debate (well maybe we can have some) to the discussion boards such as the excellent one IRCA provides (http://forum.irca.org/).
So here we go:
On-line personnel certification e-zines:
IRCA Inform
RABQSA e-momentum
Personnel Certification Organizations:
IRCA
RABQSA
Accreditation Organizations:
International Accreditation Forum
ANSI (Personnel Certification)
UKAS
Standards Council Canada (SCC)
JAZ-ANZ (www.jaz-anz.com.au, website seems to be down at the moment)
Generic sites:
Conformity Assessment
Canadian Council of Personnel Certification
The above is a tiny snapshot of the organizations and references out there. My mission over the next while will be to create an up-to-date reference of not just these organizations, but also papers and feeds as appropriate.
If anybody would like any specific kind of information reported on a (fairly) frequent basis then just post a comment on this blog or pop me off a quick mail.
Stephen Davies
Simon Feary the Director of IRCA is interviewed for IRCA inform on the impact that ISO17024 will have for auditing certification. He highlights the potential discrepancies between what the market is used to and their expectations and what some ISO17024 approaches are looking to deliver, especially the examination only option for certification. So it looks like IRCA will be holding a "business as normal" approach.
