Certification of Conformity
The purpose of certification is to assess whether adequate confidence can be justified that a duly identified subject (product, process, service or person) is in conformity with a specific standard or other normative document (this definition is consistent with the International Standard ISO 17024) .
A Certificate of Conformity is a document indicating that an independant and impartial third party, the Certification Body, has obtained this adequate confidence from an assessment of the certificated subject against the relevant standard.
Certification of Conformity is strictly regulated in European Standards. The following categories of certification are distinguished:
Certification of products, applicable standard: EN 45011.
Certification of processes/organisations (e.g. ISO 9002-certification), applicable standard: EN 45012.
Certification of competence (persons), applicable standard: EN 45013, to be replaced by the international standard ISO 17024.
The Certification Bodies are supervised frequently by an Accreditation Body to verify compliance with the standard indicated above.
Certification of Competence
There are three essential elements of professional competence:
Level of general education;
Professional education;
Professional skill/experience.
Specifically the latter two have a dynamic aspect: professional education may fade away or become outdated when not maintained and professional skill requires continuing professional experience. Therefore, different from a diploma, a certificate of professional competence has a limited validity period. After the validity period has expired, the certificate can only be renewed if sufficient proof can be given that the professional education is maintained and the profession skill is practiced with adequate frequency.
The requirements for initial certification cover all three elements mentioned. With respect to the professional education, the subjects and level to be covered by the scope of the training are specified in a `Programme of Requirements`. Furthermore the training course must have a robust staff and an adequate administrative organisation.
The standard EN 45013, as will ISO 17024, requires that every certification system is supervised by a Board of Experts, where the relevant parties, such as the professional societies and employer and employees associations, are evenly represented. The Board of Experts is independent from the Certification Body. One of the tasks of a Board of Experts is to see that the certification criteria for the relevant system, including the `Programme of Requirements`, are continuously updated.
Certification of Competence versus Certification of Professional Training
From the above it may be clear that there are significant differences between certification of competence and certification of training. Whereas the latter concentrates on the various educational aspects of a training course and the updating mechanisms as part of a quality system, certification of competence not only covers the initial educational aspects, but also the maintenance by the professional of his knowledge and skill. The updating mechanism for the training requirements for initial certification is through the `Programme of Requirements`.
With respect to the professional training, both certification of competence and certification of professional training have dynamic aspects, requiring updating as the profession develops. However, whereas for the latter any adequate updating mechanism may satisfy the certification requirements, for certification of competence this mechanism must be by implementation of the `rogramme of Requirements’.
Summary
Certification of Competence according to EN 45013/ISO 17024 ensures continuing conformity of both education and skill of the certificated person. Certification of Professional Training according to EN 45012 confirms conformity of quality, level and state-of-the-art of the certificated training course and the professional education of those who completed the course succesfully. If both certification programs are consistent, the latter contributes to the certification process of professional competence.
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Beroepsorganisatie Arboverpleegkunde
The Netherlands
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Stichting voor de Certificatie van Vakbekwaamheid
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