Accreditation of Certifications

By definition, accreditation in the safety (certification) field is the process of independently assuring a certification meets a minimum set of national standards. The standards go beyond technical requirements and ensure that the examination is fair, properly developed, and administrated. Tables 25-2 and 25-3 provide information about accrediting organizations and the approximate number of safety and health, environmental, and ergonomics certification programs that are accredited. 

TABLE 25-1. Safety, Health, Environmental and Related Certifications  

Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards (CESB) 

Established in 1980 Primarily accredits certifications in the medical and related fields 

NSSB recognizes programs as meeting programs meeting their excellence standards. 

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General requirements for assessment and accreditation of certification/registration bodies... 

Multiple accreditation of certification bodies in order to access the three main organic agriculture markets (Europe, Japan and the US) ... 

Professional Development Accreditation of Certifications Why Become Certified ... 

Guide for General Requirements for Assessment and Accreditation of Certification/Registration Bodies E... 

To receive ISO 9000 accreditation, a certification body must meet the requirements of ISO Guide 62 and EN 45012, which invokes ISO 10011. There is normally a mark of accreditation (a Grown and Tick in the case of UKAS accreditation) that certification bodies use to signify their credibility. Once accredited, a certification body may perform audits on suppliers offering products and services within the scope of accreditation. In theory, accreditation is granted only if the certification body has expertise (i.e. competent auditors) for the particular industry sectors (EAG codes) requested. 

The customer does not have any power of veto over the issuing or withdrawal of either accreditation or certification. 

The certification business has grown enormously in the last ten years. The International Accreditation Forum (lAF) recorded 616 accredited certification bodies in January 1999. The experience of the vehicle manufacturers with ISO 9000 certification led them to question the wisdom of so many certification bodies chasing the same business in a competitive market. The results seemed to indicate that cost reductions by the certification bodies led to a decline in the quality of auditing and that was the opposite of what the vehicle manufacturers wanted. The vehicle manufacturers had not seen a significant rise in product quality as a result of ISO 9000 and they believed this was partially due to the quality of the accreditation and certification schemes being operated as well as inadequacies in the quality system standard. When the four national automotive schemes were launched, great emphasis was placed on regulating more closely the accreditation and certification schemes. From a customer perspective, the ISO 10011 scheme had some particular problems ... 

Although the schemes exist to satisfy the needs of industry, industry has no power to verify that the standards are being maintained by the accreditation and certification bodies. 

Primary stroke center certification guide. Oakbrook, IL Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations 2005. 

As the uncertainty of the mean is now related to the mass used for analysis and it is based on a careful evaluation of the element distribution in the material, this approach could help to evaluate further the total uncertainty budget for various analytical techniques as is required in accreditation and certification campaigns. 

The application of EN 45011 led to a strong reduction in the number of certification bodies in several countries, like France. In some EU countries the inspection bodies have to be accredited by the national accreditation body, in others they do not (Michaud et al 2004). 

Darnhofer I and Vogl CR (2002), Certification and accreditation of organics in Austria implementation, strengths and weaknesses , in Ecolabels and the Greening of the Food Market, Tufts University Boston. 

Is there a difference between the processes of certification and accreditation ... 

This presentation is focused on explaining the significance of accreditation and certification for laboratories and illustrates the usefulness of both procedures. The implementation of these procedures in laboratories is described, pointing out their similarities and differences. Reference is made to some publications. The discussion reflects the existing practice. 

The role of laboratories is manifold. The main components are testing and calibration which require measurements and comparisons. This is the area to focus on in the discussion of accreditation vs. certification . Other services provided, e.g. development of new methods, consultancy etc., may lead to different conclusions with regard to the relative importance of accreditation and certification. 

Accreditation and Certification are components of the common technical infrastructure referred to above (see slides 8 and 10). They represent important mechanisms to facilitate free movement of goods. In a general sense they are dealing with similar issues, mainly because they assess and declare compliance with standards. 

The basic question of whether accreditation or certification is appropriate arises when a laboratory is trying to meet the needs of the customers for testing and/or calibration services. Experience shows that the real nature and objectives of ISO 9001 are not always clearly imderstood by the stakeholders. The situation may be different in each case, depending on the customer. 

A survey was carried out in 1996 by ILAC to evaluate the status of laboratories worldwide with regard to accreditation and certification as well as the needs of their customers and the trends in the market. Up to 500 laboratories responded leading to a series of comments and suggestions. 

Harmonization of certification and accreditation documents with regard to management issues... 

The drafting of an ISO standard on laboratory accreditation to be used instead of EN 45001 was a need for international trade. ISO/IEC Guide 25 could not be used for this purpose since it was just a guide. However other needs were also reflected in the new standard, namely the ones related to the question accreditation vs. certification for laboratories and how to face problems arising from the existing confusion. 

The aim of organic standards is to ensure that animals produced and sold as organic are raised and marketed according to defined principles. Standards and state regulations in conjunction with accreditation and certification are therefore very important as guarantees for the consumer. 

In addition, the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS) provides guidelines for animal care and use, operates a certification program for animal technicians, and develops educational materials. The AALAS also serves as a scientific forum for laboratory medicine and care. The American Association for the Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) offers a peer review laboratory accreditation program for research facilities. In addition, the FDA and the EPA have Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) regulations. 

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