Date:Jun 2017
Maggie Graf, Director
Following a special session on certification that was held at the IEA Conference in Melbourne in 2015, it was decided to form a sub-committee to the Professional Standards and Education Standing Committee, specifically tasked with promoting the certification of professional ergonomists. The purpose was to facilitate the exchange of experiences between certifying bodies and provide some form of coordination of the certification systems.
The sub-committee commenced its work by updating the IEA documents on certification so that the experience from the established systems would be passed to societies interested in establishing their own systems. Additionally the process for obtaining IEA endorsement of a certification system was reviewed and the current list of endorsed systems was updated.
There are six societies currently endorsed by the IEA to certify ergonomists. All ergonomists certified at the highest level of these systems meet the education and experience requirements that have been defined by the IEA for certified professional ergonomists. The IEA encourages ergonomics societies in other regions to develop certification systems and apply for IEA endorsement of them. The sub-committee welcomes comment on the reviewed documents that are available by clicking the Resources – Projects tabs on this website.
An update of the Core Competencies required for certification is planned for the coming year and suggestions and comments are also welcome on this project. The aim is to coordinate the educational requirements of ergonomists with the recommendations on the future of human factors and ergonomics that have been made by other project groups of the IEA.
An added note – One active certification body is CREE, the Centre for Registration of European Ergonomists. President Yushi Fujita organized a workshop for the 51st Council Meeting of CREE in Buxton, Derbyshire, UK, June 9-10. The meeting was hosted by the UK Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF). Below is a picture taken at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) where the first day of the workshop was held. The second day was held at Britannia Palace Hotel, Buxton.
