Competence qualifications

Quality in NDT depends upon a number of factors. Qualification of NDT personnel, technical state and correctness of choice of testing equipment, availability of approved working procedures of examination, calibration of NDT equipment have decisive importance among those factors of an NDT laboratory. Assessment of NDT laboratory competence is provided through accreditation in compliance with the EN 45000 series standards. 

Competent advice on the correct packaging to use for hazardous materials or other produces is obtainable from consultants in the field of packaging who are members of the Institute of Packaging Professionals, consultants counsel. A brochure listing the qualifications of member consultants is obtainable from the lOPP. 

The trade associations will also process applications for lATF recognition and for auditor qualification. A central database of auditors will be maintained so that auditor competency can be monitored. Auditor qualification and re-qualification results, complaints, and movements will be stored so that the validity of auditor certificates can be ascertained. 

Engineers offer services in the areas of their competence affording full disclosure of their qualifications. 

Class of membership Minimum age (years) Minimum academic qualifications Evidence of Minimum competence responsibility... 

Many different factors determine how well a dmg regulatory policy will be implemented. These factors include the number of personnel and their qualifications and competence, their attitude to their work in general and to the dmg regulatory policy in particular, their level of pay and career stmcture, as well as the culture within the organization. 

The qualification and competence of the staff differs between countries. 

It is not necessary that participating laboratories be formally recognized, accredited or certified. Measurement of the property of interest should be completed by, or under the supervision of a technically competent manager qualified either in terms of suitable academic qualifications or relevant work experience. The participating laboratory should consider the analysis as a very special one, to be performed with special attention and all possible care, and not have it performed as part of its regular routine. 

It is important that any method chosen is scientifically sound under the conditions it will be applied. It is also necessary to demonstrate that the equipment, which will be used, is suitable and its use will not influence the results adversely. This includes all types of equipment, e.g. does the volumetric glassware have a suitable tolerance and do the instruments have sufficient sensitivity over the entire range of measurement The process for demonstrating equipment capability is called equipment qualification and is dealt with in Chapter 5. The staff carrying out validation need to be both qualified and competent in the tasks that they need to carry out. 

The responsibilities of personnel and the laboratory s management structure must be clearly defined, by means of organizational charts, job descriptions and curriculum vitae for the personnel who are carrying out the study. There must also be up-to-date records of qualifications and of the training that the staff have received, including any records necessary to show their competence to carry out their work. 

Many of the technical requirements of the Standard are covered in Chapters 4 to 7. The analytical requirements, including choosing a method and method validation, are covered in Chapter 4. The other measurement requirements, such as calibration, traceability and equipment qualification, are dealt with in Chapter 5. Some of the general issues not covered elsewhere are mentioned in the following sections. It has already been mentioned that staff should be trained and proven to be competent to carry out the testing. This applies to permanent and contracted staff. The laboratory should have a job description for all members of staff. There are more stringent requirements on staff who are also able to provide customers with opinions or interpretation of the results. 

This determination requires an examination of both an old and a new line of cases. In the new line of cases, plaintiffs have argued—in the therapeutic context—that health care providers have a duty to provide comparative data about the effectiveness not only of various treatment alternatives, but also about the qualifications, competence, and experience of the provider. In the one case in which plaintiffs have so far succeeded in surviving a motion to dismiss, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that a neurosurgeon had a duty to disclose his level of experience with a procedure and the morbidity and mortality differences between himself and more experienced neurosurgeons (Johnson v. Kokemoor, 1996). The Wisconsin court s ruling has been labeled the "second revolution" of the informed consent doctrine (Twerski and Cohen, 1999 Ketler, 2001). 

Employee perceives that his or her way is better (safer or more effective), due to deficiencies in the system for establishing and maintaining a specific competency and qualification level... 

The management must authorize the persormel to perform specific tasks. The relevant authorization(s), competence, educational and professional qualifications, training, skills and experience of all technical persormel, including contracted persormel shall be recorded. This can be done e.g. on an authorization sheet. 

In accreditation the assessment team should consist of assessors/technical experts able to assess all relevant issues including the competence of the staff of the laboratory. This competence needs to be documented by relevant academic/technical qualifications, experience and training as well as successful participation in proficiency testing. 

Isotretinoin should be prescribed only by prescribers who have demonstrated special competence in the diagnosis and treatment of severe recalcitrant nodular acne, are experienced in the use of systemic retinoids, have read the SMART Guide to Best Practices, signed and returned the completed SMART letter of understanding, and obtained yellow self-adhesive Accutane qualification stickers. Do not prescribe or dispense Accutane without a yellow self-adhesive Accutane qualification sticker. 

The NVLAP is comprised of a series of laboratory accreditation programs (LAPs), depending on what is requested and what is needed. Each LAP includes specific calibration and/or test standards and related methods and protocols assembled to satisfy the unique needs for accreditation in a field of testing or calibration. NVLAP accredits public and private laboratories based on evaluation of their technical qualifications and competence to carry out specific calibrations or tests. All are based on the ISO/IEC Guide 25 discussed in Section 2. The process involves an application and the payment of fees. This is followed by an on-site assessment. If deficiencies are found, these must be resolved to the satisfaction of the assessment team. The laboratory then participates in proficiency testing (Section 5.7) and a technical evaluation. 

The FDA has refrained from specif5ung exactly what scientific disciphnes, education, training, or expertise qualify individuals to participate in the conduct of a nonclinical laboratory study. These factors vary from study to study, and FDA has merely indicated that the question of employee qualifications should be carefully considered by laboratory management. Laboratory management therefore has considerable latitude to define job qualifications. Any reputable laboratory will find it to be in its own best interest to hire competent individuals and to provide adequate on-the-job training to qualify those individuals to perform their assigned duties. The FDA is not likely to make an issue of employee qualifications rniless an inspection reveals an obvious case of employee incompetence. 

In Britain, competence is being used as a basis for assessing Junior and middle managers towards a National (or Scottish) Vocational Qualification (NVQ or SVQ), Standards for assessing competence have been defined by the MCI (Management Charter Initiative), a body that has established itself as the official specifier of standards for management education and development. Among their competence standards is a model of personal competence , shown in Box 2.4. 

You need to think too about the range of circumstances in which your experiential learning would be relevant. When competences are assessed for a qualification, the range of circumstances in which you are able to exercise the competency is taken into account. So one outcome you may seek from your reflection is to extend the range of circumstances in which you can use the competences you have acquired. Competency has been defined (Edmonds, 1992) as ... 

In business terms, auditing of software developers will allow you to assess the vendor s technical competence, vendor reaction to your company s user requirements specification (URS), vendor QA system adequacy, supplier experience with GXP systems, and quality level of vendor-prepared validation and qualification protocols. In short, vendor auditing is a regulatory expectation and auditing provides a means of assessing the supplier s ability to deliver a validatable system that will achieve the requirements of your company s URS. 

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