IPC (International Personnel Certification Association) to start approval function
On 25 August 2006 IPC members voted to establish a personnel certification body approval body. The new approval?body, separate from IPC itself,?will conform to the requirements of ISO 17011, the?international standard for bodies providing accreditation services.?
This move has been prompted by?a need for?international harmonization, and consistency on the interpretation and application of ISO 17024, the accreditation standard used by personnel certification bodies. Currently, there is significant variation within the accreditation body community in the interpretation and implementation of the ISO 17024 standard and this is recognized as undermining the credibility of the standard and of personnel certification generally.
The approval activities are scheduled to commence from 1st October 2007. In order to provide member personnel certification bodies and training approval bodies with a mechanism for mutual recognition during this development period, the planned phasing out of the auditor and training certification criteria and the MLA is extended by 12 months. This means that personnel certification bodies and training approval bodies who are members of the IPC MLA will be able to continue issuing IPC certificates until 30 September, 2007. The MLA will be withdrawn three years after that date, on 30 September, 2010.
IRCA Director, Simon Feary (also a director of IPC), stated that, "IRCA has been highlighting the inconsistencies in interpretation of ISO 17024 by accreditation bodies around the world for some time and we fully support this initiative by IPC to remedy that problem. Although some in the accreditation community may be uncomfortable with this development, we feel the initiative should be regarded as complementing rather than competing with the IAF activities. IRCA will continue to contribute to an IAF solution, but our view is that the problem really needs addressing quickly and IPC is best placed to do this effectively."
IPC press release
IRCA position
5th September 2006
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