The Educational Governing Board and Certification Scheme.

There have been a number of landmark developments in the history of the Institute and one of the more important must be the creation and implementation of its Training and Certification Scheme. This is very much in keeping with The Institute being a learned society dedicated to promoting sound corrosion education, knowledge and management practice. These courses are becoming a desirable qualification to prepare those in Technical Sales within the coating :and paint industries to meet the ever more exacting demands of their clients and their extensive range of materials. Both the courses and the role of the Governing Board would not have succeeded without the total commitment of those involved. Among these I must especially thank Les Woolf, for his expert guidance and tireless efforts as the first Chairman of the Board. Last year Roger Hudson, was appointed to succeed Les and under his Chairmanship, the remit of the Board is expanding to encompass other courses and course providers in the UK and overseas. This is introducing many new members to the Institute and further enhances the international status of the Institute. The Institute is greatly indebted to Roger for his considerable drive and dedication as Chairman of both the Board of Governors and the Yorkshire Branch Committee. I am also very grateful to him for the following article which more Ally describes the 'work and responsibilities of the Governing Board and the Institute's Certification Scheme.

The Governing Board was set up by the Institute in June 1996 following an agreement between the Institute (owners of the training and certification scheme for coatings inspectors, and TWI Ruane (course providers). Now as Argyll Ruane, the Scheme providers have, over the years, worked very closely with the Governing Board to train personnel engaged in coating inspection and related industry fields.

Primarily, the function of the Board is to review, monitor and audit the training and certification scheme and any other such schemes approved by the Institute. In this context, the Governing Board links with the Professional Development Committee (PDG) the remit of which was described in Part 2 in this series of articles.

The Board comprises a maximum of six members of the Institute who have experience and expertise in corrosion control, especially in the field of protective coatings. Board meetings are held half yearly usually around April and October time when the opportunity is taken to review progress with the scheme providers. The Board also considers other related schemes and specific industry requirements and responds to requests for transitional arrangements and individual interests in training development. All successful candidates are encouraged to join the Institute upon completion of their training and award of certification.

Since the launch of the I.Corr scheme, the training modules have developed to include inspector training for painting (3 levels), metallic coatings, insulation, fireproofing and cathodic protection technician.

The Scheme was developed in response to market needs and conforms to the requirements of EN 45013-General criteria for certification bodies operating certification of personnel. Now firmly established as being of major importance in the world of personnel certification, the scheme has proved to be amongst the fastest developing programmes for international recognition of levels of competence.

To date, the Institute has awarded more than 850 Achievement Certificates, mostly at Levels 1 and 2 Painting Inspector, but also including Pipeline Coating, Insulation and Fireproofing Inspection. In technician grades, Certificates at Levels 1 and 2 in Gathodic protection have been attained by a growing number of candidates.

The providers conduct an intensive programme of training courses at their Rotherham main training facility, and examinations are conducted at the Rotherham ICORR Test Centre. In addition, training courses are regularly held in Malaysia, and on a demand basis in several other parts of the world.

The growth of the Scheme, not just in numbers of candidates progressing through, but in the diversity of industry sectors sending candidates, for example, aerospace, petrochemicals, shipping, offshore, pipelines, water industry, transportation, and the military is most impressive. All of these are taking up the scheme in addition to increasing usage within the general industrial painting sector. The take-up is not confined to candidates engaged in inspection roles, but manufacturers and suppliers are sponsoring personnel who are engaged in sales and technical service roles to augment their in-house resources.

It is considered that the success of the Scheme is a reflection on the foresight of those in the Institute who had the vision, the will and energy to bring the Scheme into being, and the integrity, investment and hard work of the Providers. As a result, the Institute has a Scheme of which it can be justly proud, and one which the ultimate users throughout industry across the world, can totally depend.

The present membership of the Governing Board is;
Roger Hudson, MICorr. Chairman,
Les Wbolf, MIGorr. Past Chairman and Acting Secretary,
Bill Cox, MICorr,
Brendan Fitzsimons, MICorr.
Prospective candidates to fill the two vacancies have been approached and it is expected that there will be a full committee at the next meeting which is planned for the Wednesday 28 March 2001.