IRCA Director Simon Feary becomes Chairman of the International Personnel Certification Association (IPC)

IPC members appointed IRCA Director, Simon Feary, as Board Chairman at its annual general meeting in London last month.

Simon Feary indicated that, "IRCA has supported IPC since its inauguration in 1995 and, with support from the IPC Board, I look forward to leading the organization into a future where ISO 17024 (General requirements for bodies operating certification of persons) continues to gain acceptance and recognition as the global benchmark for demonstrating the competence of professionals across a broad range of industry and business contexts."

Simon Feary’s appointment comes at an important time for organizations certifying the competence of professionals. IPC has identified an urgent need for international harmonization and consistency in the interpretation and application of ISO 17024. Currently, there is significant variation globally within the accreditation body community in the interpretation and implementation of the ISO 17024 Standard. This is recognized as undermining the credibility of the Standard and of personnel certification generally.

To complement its membership function, IPC is currently developing an Approval Body activity to replace the previous system based on peer evaluation as the means for ensuring consistency between the programmes operated by members.

Simon Feary replaces George Anastasopoulos who made an important contribution leading IPC through the formative stages and who has now moved on to take a position within the Greek government.

About IPC

IPC (previously IATCA) is an international membership association for organizations that operate personnel certification programmes. IPC promotes improved business performance through the certification of persons whose competence is demonstrated in accordance with ISO 17024, the accredited standard for certification of persons.   

For more details see www.iatca.org

8 October 2007