ANSI accredits 4 personnel certification programs.
Press Release Summary:
ANSI, coordinator of the U.S. standards and conformity assessment system, has announced its accreditation of 4 additional organizations engaged in the credentialing of professionals. The organizations offer 10 distinct credentials for the audiovisual, information technology, industrial refrigeration, and podiatric surgery professions. They were approved during the March 2008 meeting of ANSI's Personnel Certification Accreditation Committee.
Original Press Release:
ANSI Accredits Four Personnel Certification Programs 18% Increase - Largest Since Program Launch in 2003
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), coordinator of the U.S. standards and conformity assessment system, has announced its accreditation of four (4) additional organizations engaged in the credentialing of professionals.
The organizations - which offer ten distinct credentials for the audiovisual, information technology, industrial refrigeration and podiatric surgery professions - join 18 other credentialing bodies that have previously received ANSI accreditation.
Approved during the March 2008 meeting of ANSI's Personnel Certification Accreditation Committee, the new accreditations were granted to:
American Board of Multiple Specialties in Podiatry (scope: podiatric surgery)
Primary Care in Podiatric Medicine
Podiatric Surgery
Diabetic Foot Wounds and Foot Wear
CompTIA (scope: information technology)
CompTIA A+
CompTIA Network+
CompTIA Security+
InfoComm International (scope: audiovisual)
Certified Technology Specialist (CTS)
Certified Technology Specialist - Installation (CTS-I)
Refrigerating Engineers & Technicians Association (scope: industrial refrigeration)
Certified Assistant Refrigeration Operator (CARO)
Certified Industrial Refrigeration Operator (CIRO)
"These accreditations represent the largest one-time increase in organizations and credentials since ANSI launched its programs in 2003," confirmed Dr. Roy Swift, ANSI director of personnel certification accreditation.
Accreditation is the culmination of a multi-month process to verify compliance with requirements outlined in the internationally accepted standards for assessing personnel certification programs (ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024) and for the operation of accreditation bodies (ISO/IEC 17011).
A global leader in the accreditation of personnel certification programs under ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024, ANSI is the only U.S. accreditor to require a week-long assessor training as well as a mandatory annual training update to meet the requirements of ISO/IEC 17011.
"The ANSI accreditation process provides certification bodies with an internationally recognized measurement of quality and benchmarks by which to evaluate and improve their practices," said Dr. Swift.
A member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), ANSI also chairs the IAF working group charged with harmonizing the work of accreditation bodies around the world that are performing independent third-party review of personnel certification programs.
"ANSI and the IAF are helping to build consumer and public confidence in certification programs and the personnel who receive credentials from those organizations," explained Dr. Roy Swift, who also chairs the IAF working group. "Accreditation by an independent body that conducts an impartial review under the auspices of ISO/IEC 17011 and ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024 creates an extremely valuable distinction for a personnel certification program. This value extends through the service network - from certification body, to certificate holder, to employer, to the public they serve."
Personnel certification programs that have already received ANSI accreditation include:
American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers
American Society for Clinical Pathology
American Society for Nondestructive Testing
ASIS International (scope: security personnel)
Board of Certified Safety Professionals
Construction Manager Certification Institute
GIAC (scope: IT security)
Information System Audit and Control Association
International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, Inc.
National Board for Certification in Dental Laboratory Technology
National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy
National Commission for Certification of Crane Operators
National Fire Protection Association
National Inspection Testing Certification Corporation
National Strength and Conditioning Association
North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners
Project Management Institute
Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals Certifying Organization
The above certification programs represent 57 different credentials; more than 700,000 individuals hold a certification from ANSI-accredited programs.
Current estimates indicate that as many as ninety percent of U.S. personnel certification agencies have never been independently evaluated by a third party.
"With the expanding globalization of the workforce, accredited personnel certification bodies address a pressing need for consistency within the service sector," said Dr. Swift. "Connecting certification bodies to the rest of the world is one of the major benefits of ANSI accreditation."
