Overview
ISO/IEC 17024 Conformity assessment – General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons is an International Standard which specifies criteria for the operation of a Personnel Certification Body (also known as a certification body for persons). The standard includes requirements for the development and maintenance of the certification scheme for persons upon which the certification is based.
This is applicable for training institutes who are certifying personnel in various disciplines. Training institutes like Life Guard training, Mobile crane operating institutes, Riggers, signalmen, Health, Safety and Environmental training institutes etc… operating in Dubai need to comply with this standard to fulfill requirements of Dubai Accreditation Council (DAC).
What it ISO17024?
Released in 2003, ISO 17024 is designed to harmonize the personnel certification process worldwide. There is still much debate as to the effectiveness of the standard to date, especially with the variability in how it is applied by Accreditation Bodies globally.
The issues that ISO 17024 tackles can be simply summarized:
- Defining what it is you are examine (the competencies)
- Knowledge, skills and personal attributes
- Examination must be independent
- Examination must be a valid test of competence
Where competency is typically described as: “The demonstrated ability to apply knowledge, skills and attributes”