Just a quick post to note that I have updated the Wikipedia ISO/IEC 17024 page with basically my brief ISO17024 easy reference page.
Hopefully now it is up, people can start to expand and continue to add more references and keep the page "alive". If anybody wishes to add more information, but does not know how then pop me a mail and I will update the information for you.
The Wikipedia link is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO/IEC_17024.
I do have an issue with the page address (the / between the ISO and IEC has screwed up the page location) but I will fix this over the next couple of days. This is an artifact of the original listing I found on Wikipedia.
It has been a while since my last post, chaos of business development causing me to take a quick break from the blogging community.
To get back into the swing of things I decided to do some research as to how ISO17024 is seen as being valued not by the credentialing community, but by industry and regulators.
I found a great piece on how small firms are taking big risks on construction sites, particularly in the rules and regulations around the control of asbestos.
Interestingly the UK Heath and Safety Executive is running a "name and shame" database with over 120 entries related to infringements, the majority of which are failures to identify asbestos relate materials prior to work starting.
Critically one of the key recommendations is that the surveyors that perform these analysis should have a credential or certificate from an ISO17024 accredited organization.
Things seems to be gaining momentum. The newswires and giving me more and more examples of 17024 accreditation, but now we seem to be seeing a real industry pull. This is what really takes a product (which is all ISO17024 really is) from the hype stage into maturity.
I will now be interested to see what ramifications this has, for example will insurance policies change because of this recomendation?
If anybody has any other examples of an industry pull regarding 17024 I would be really interested to hear from you.
Link to the article from heal-mesothelioma is here. The article is written by Mick Dawson who is a commercial director for Bureau Veritas.
One interesting measure of the uptake of a new practice is to measure the amount of news released on the newswires on any particular subject. Unless there is some statistical "blip" it looks like the number of organizations actually formalizing their personnel certification programs is on the rise.
I have about 25 RSS feeds covering blogs and the newswires, and something new usually pops up about once per month. Interestingly there have been 3 in the last 2 weeks - the beginning of a trend?
So in the recent news we have:
The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) - newslink
The American Indoor Air Quality Council (IAC) - newslink
and most interestingly
The National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) - newslink
all obtaining their ISO17024 certifications.
I will keep a track of who is doing what. The ANSI website only tells me after the fact (usually long after!) so if anybody would like to keep me up to date with new accreditations or organizations (any sector) that are planning on moving in this direction I will keep an up-to-date register as a reference tool and keep it published on this blog.
The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) is pursuing ISO 17024 in order to accredit their financial planning professionals to ISO 22222 (quality standard for personal financial planners).
Melanie Blackmore, director of Standards International, said:
"ISO 22222 could possibly be the top professional standard, it will be for higher end financial planners not general advisers."
The Institute of Financial Planning chief executive Nick Cann said it was also looking into becoming ISO 17024 accredited but would consult with members about the extra costs.
"I don’t think that professional bodies will have any more power over advisers if they can accredit them but I do think that it would bring consistency to the market and neutralise the debate about qualifications"
For the full article from Citywire go here.
It looks like the Department of Defense (DoD) is really pushing its personnel to obtain information assurance (IA) certifications through organizations that are ISO 17024 registered. The DoD Directive 8570.1, (all IA personel with privileged access to a DoD system, regardless of job series or occupational specialty, to obtain a commercial certification credential) will require an additional 30 percent of an estimated 100,000 DoD IA workers obtain a commercial certification in 2008.
DoD certification efforts under 8570 began in 2007, with an initial 10 percent of the DoD IA workforce obtaining professional credentials, and will continue through 2010.
Link to the newsfeed for the full article here.
A new standard has been released by ISO which outlines the code of practice for IT based computer testing. ISO/IEC 23988:2007, derived from British Standard BS 7988 was released in January 2007 provides a means to (quote from ISO):
- show that the delivery and scoring of the assessment are fair and do not disadvantage some groups of candidates, for example those who are not IT literate;
- show that a summative assessment has been conducted under secure conditions and is the authentic work of the candidate;
- show that the validity of the assessment is not compromised by IT delivery;
- provide evidence of the security of the assessment, which can be presented to regulatory and funding organizations (including regulatory bodies in education and training, in industry or in financial services);
- establish a consistent approach to the regulations for delivery, which should be of benefit to assessment centres who deal with more than one assessment distributer;
- give an assurance of quality to purchasers of "off-the-shelf" assessment software.
Mickie S Rops in her Association Knowledge and Credentialing Blog encourages
"All associations considering or offering computer- or internet-based testing (and all associated service providers/vendors) would benefit from a review of this informative standard which, by the way, applies to both low and high-stakes assessments."
Interestingly one of the key assessment methods - assessment through simulations is excluded in the standard. Go here for more information from ISO
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
Just a quick post to note that I have updated the Wikipedia ISO/IEC 17024 page with basically my brief ISO17024 easy reference page. 
