Professional Accreditation - Criteria

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To gain OPERC Professional Accreditation (OPA) status, the training provider or individual company must:

1. Be a member of a training body that is recognised by the Health and Safety Commission (HSC), UK or similar enforcement body internationally.
2. [A] Be a corporate member of OPERC or [B] Be an individual member of OPERC and member of a body, organisation or group that is an OPERC corporate member (e.g. AITT, LANTRA Awards, ITSSAR, EPIC).
3. Be an active user of OPERC-Safetynet in order to ensure that individual candidates can provide basic knowledge evidence of core health and safety awareness.
4. Be registered with, and an active user of, OPERC's lifelong learning zone.
5. Utilise OPERC's approved operator assessment forms when measuring operational performance of an individual operative.
6. Maintain an audit trail of all training, assessment and competence development delivered to a candidate. OPA organisations must use OPERC's own On-Line Instructor (OLI) audit system to record both basic and practical training requirements and assessments.
7. Successfully pass an Internal Training Review (ITR) [1] and External Training Review (ETR) [2] and fully participate in a Periodic Training Review (PTR) [3].

[1] An Internal Training Review (ITR) consists of a thorough examination of all training materials and resources delivered by the OPA organisation to ensure that only eligible materials are being used. The ITR will also examine documentation audit trails and check that the OPA training provider remains linked to a training body that is recognised by the HSC or similar enforcement body internationally. Examiners will need to see that a 'cradle to the grave' approach to training and on-going professional development is offered and adhered to.

One ITR visit will be conducted each year at a cost of £350 plus travel expenses. Finance for an ITR is to be paid in advance, with each application for OPA Finance to be paid once a year at a fixed time and the OPA trainer to be invoiced after the event.

[2] An External Training Review (ETR) aims to observe the OPA centre delivering training instruction and operational assessment in practice but also liaise with customers to determine that standards are being upheld as part of OPERC's internal Quality Control (QC) loop.

One ETR visit will be conducted each year at a cost of £350 plus travel expenses. Finance for an ETR is to be paid in advance, with each application for OPA Finance to be paid once a year at a fixed time and the OPA trainer to be invoiced after the event.

Nota Bene: For both ITR and ETR one month's notice of a pending visit will be given to the OPA training provider/company. Failure to agree a mutually convenient date for a visit could result in a suspension of OPA for the training provider/company.

[3] A Periodic Training Review (PTR) occurs once each year and allows OPA training providers to comment upon the professional accreditation process and the OPERC products and services that support it. It also allows OPERC Executive to update existing products and services and announce new ones.

The PTR is free to attend but all registered OPA centres must have at least one representative present and the onus is on OPA centres to ensure compliance. Dates and venues for PTR events will be posted to all OPA centres one month in advance of the next event.

Travel Expenses

Travel expenses are to be paid at a rate of £0.40 for the first 150 miles and £0.20 for every mile thereafter. The number of miles claimed are calculated to be the distance between the Examiner's place of work and home and the OPA Centre's address.