Quality Management Systems Foundation Training Course

Certification criteria for Quality Management Systems Foundation Training Course

CERTIFICATION CRITERIA FOR THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOUNDATION TRAINING COURSE Please read this document conjunction with IRCA/2000; Approval Requirements for Organisations Providing Certificated Auditor Training. Page 1

CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES 3. ENABLING OBJECTIVES 4. TRAINING METHODS 5. COURSE CONTENT 6. COURSE DURATION 7. TUTORS AND STUDENTS 8. VARIATIONS 9. STUDENT ASSESSMENT 10. ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL Glossary Many of the certification requirements common to all courses are detailed in Section 2 of IRCA/2000; Approval Requirements for Organisations Providing Certified Auditor Training. These general course requirements are in addition to the requirements of IRCA/2001 and are mandatory. It is essential, therefore, that you are familiar with the requirements of IRCA/2000. Successful completion of an IRCA certified Quality Management Systems Foundation Course will, in itself, NOT satisfy the training requirements for IRCA certification to any grade of Quality Management System (QMS) auditor. Copyright IRCA - 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means; electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the CQI International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA). Page 2

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 We, the International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA), have developed this document to help you, the approved Training Organisation, achieve certification of your Quality Management Systems Foundation training course. 1.2 Before designing a Quality Management Systems Foundation training course to meet the requirements of this document you should consider the following: 1.2.1 ISO 9001:2008 provides industry with a useful model for business process improvement. The aim of the Quality Management Systems Foundation training course is to provide students with an overview of the purpose and requirements of ISO 9001:2008 as a tool for business improvement. 1.2.2 This course may be valuable as preparation for students planning to complete other Quality Management Systemsbased training courses, such as the IRCA/2245 Quality Management Systems Auditor/Lead Auditor training course or the IRCA/2180 Internal QMS Auditor training course, and useful as an introduction for anyone involved in the development, implementation and management of an ISO 9001:2008 management system. 1.2.3 This course does not address the skills of auditing. Where students require both knowledge of ISO 9001 and audit skills this Foundation course can be run with the IRCA/2180 Internal QMS Auditor training course, or students should consider taking the IRCA/2245 Quality Management Systems Auditor/ Lead Auditor training course. 1.2.4 Students are not expected to have knowledge of auditing, quality management systems or ISO 9001:2008 before attending the course. 1.2.5 Your training course must be designed and delivered in accordance with the criteria in this document, although you may exercise flexibility in the inclusion of additional learning objectives, additional material, and in the structure and selection of specific training methods used during the course. 1.3 We would be pleased to review your proposed approach and course outline before you begin detailed course development to help ensure that your final training product will meet the requirements in this document. The application fee (see IRCA/151) must be paid before we will review any proposed course outlines. Page 3

1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES Learning Objectives describe in outline what students will be able to do by the end of the course. By the end of the course students will be able to: 1.1 Explain the purpose and intent of the ISO 9000 series of standards. 1.2 Describe the ISO 9001:2008 requirements. 1.3 Explain the relationships between the clauses of ISO 9001:2008. Page 4

2 ENABLING OBJECTIVES For students to achieve the overall Learning Objectives they will need to develop specific areas of knowledge. These are specified below as Enabling Objectives and can be thought of as steps to the achievement of the Learning Objectives. By the end of the course students will be able to: 2.1 Explain the purpose and intent of the Quality Management Systems standards: 2.1.1 Explain the purpose of a management system. 2.1.2 Explain the purpose of the Quality Management Systems standards, how they interrelate and the benefits to organisations of using ISO 9001:2008. 2.1.3 Explain the 8 Quality Principles. 2.1.4 Outline the content of ISO 9000, ISO 9001 and ISO 9004. 2.1.5 Describe, with reference to the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) cycle and the Model of a Process Based Quality Management System, the structure and scope of ISO 9001:2008. 2.2 Describe the ISO 9001:2008 requirements: 2.2.1 For each numbered 1 clause of ISO 9001:2008: a) Explain the intent of the requirement. b) Suggest possible ways in which organisations might satisfy the requirement. 2.2.2 Explain key ISO 9000:2008 definitions and terminology. 2.2.3 Draw the continual improvement cycle, based on the requirements of ISO 9001:2008 clause 8.5.1. 2.3 Explain the relationships between the clauses of ISO 9001:2008: 2.3.1 Describe how the requirements of ISO 9001 relate to the model of a process-based quality management system. 2.3.2 Determine conformance of a management system to ISO 9001 requirements. 1 Numbered clauses: coverage can be limited to the main requirements, e.g. 4.2.3 rather than the detailed sub requirements, e.g. 4.2.3 a, b etc. Page 5

3 TRAINING METHODS 3.1 General You may deliver this course in a classroom or as a self-study course. The course can be presented as a single, complete learning event, or can be broken into discrete elements which collectively cover all the Learning and Enabling Objectives. The following requirements apply to all sections of the training course, regardless of media and method of delivery: 3.1.1 Training must be highly participative to allow all students to apply new knowledge and enhance their learning, and so the training methods you select should involve and engage students throughout the duration of the course. 3.1.2 Each student must participate in practical, interactive activities for a minimum of 40% of the course duration. 3.1.3 You must build methods into the course for students to assess their achievement of the Learning and Enabling Objectives and for tutors to provide timely feedback and coaching to students. 3.1.4 Where the course is not delivered as a single, complete learning event, you must make appropriate arrangements to ensure continuity of learning, including use of summaries and learning reviews. 3.2 Self-study Self-study may be used for the full training course, or to supplement classroom training. 3.2.1 Your self-study materials must be designed around a clearly structured learning process with: a) Input (theory). b) Examples. c) Exercises and tests to provide comprehensive coverage of the relevant learning and enabling objectives. d) Feedback/self-assessment on exercises and tests where relevant, to ensure students can self-assess their understanding and achievement of the Learning Objectives and identify areas any requiring further work. Simply providing students with a set of reading materials will not be acceptable. 3.2.2 Your self-study course materials must be clearly presented and structured for ease of use, with appropriate navigational aids. You must make the following clear to students to help them manage their learning: a) The Learning Objectives for the overall self-study element of the course. Page 6

b) The Learning Objectives for each section within the course. c) The structure and suggested or intended sequence of the materials. d) Instructions for the students use of the materials, including realistic timescales. e) How, when and how often students may contact tutors for help, guidance and feedback. 3.2.3 You must ensure that each student has timely access to a course tutor to answer questions and queries. 3.2.4 Your course must include methods for students to assess their learning and to seek timely feedback and coaching from the tutor(s). 3.3 Classroom Training 3.3.1 Knowledge-based sessions may be tutor led, but your course must allow interaction with students, so that tutors can test learning and students can clarify their understanding, as required. 3.3.2 Any deviations from the course timings must be managed to ensure that all Learning Objectives are adequately covered and that students are kept informed of any changes. 3.3.3 You must include session plans (i.e. documented outlines of the training/learning process) for your tutors for each individual training session. These must specify: a) Learning and Enabling Objectives for the session. b) Duration of the session. c) Nature of the activity and training method(s) to be used. d) Organisational arrangements including tutor and student briefing details. e) Deliverables required from students for practical sessions. f) Materials, exercises and equipment required to run the session. g) Where training methods or use of exercises etc. are optional. Page 7

5. COURSE CONTENT 5.1 At the beginning of the course you must provide the students with a description of the Learning Objectives, course structure, format, their responsibilities, student assessment processes and any assessment criteria. The course must cover all aspects defined in clause 2, Learning Objectives, and clause 3, Enabling Objectives. 5.2 The course must also include outline information on the role of IRCA in the certification of auditors. 5.3 The course must cover the benefits of certification as an IRCA QMS Auditor, including brief details of the IRCA QMS auditor certification scheme, and provide students with details of further IRCA certified training courses and how to contact IRCA. Web-based courses must include a link to the IRCA website www.irca.org. 6. COURSE DURATION 6.1 Where your course is delivered through self-study methods: a) The course must be designed so that students can realistically complete all elements of the course within 20 hours. b) Students must complete the course within 12 weeks. 6.2 Where your course is delivered though classroom-based training: a) The duration of the classroom-based element must be at least 7 hours, calculated as detailed in IRCA/2000. b) The course may be delivered as a series of different elements at different times (e.g. as a part-time course), but all students must complete all elements of the course within a 4-week period in order to successfully complete the course. c) Where classroom training is delivered through a virtual classroom rather than a real classroom, the duration must be increased as necessary to meet the Learning Objectives and to ensure that the requirements for training methods in clause 4 are met. 6.3 If you present the course through interpreters, the duration must be increased as necessary to achieve the Learning Objectives. Page 8

7. TUTORS AND STUDENTS 7.1 Tutors For this course must demonstrate competence in the two key areas: 7.2 Self-Study a) Training; by satisfying the Tutor requirements specified in IRCA/2000. b) ISO 9000:2008; by understanding and having experience working with the revised standard. 7.2.1 You must provide sufficient tutor resource to ensure timely support for students undertaking self-study. 7.2.2 At the beginning of the course you must inform students how and when they may seek tutor support and how and when you will provide a response. 7.3 Classroom Training 7.3.1 Student numbers: a) The maximum number of students per course is 20. b) The minimum number of students per course is 4. 7.3.2 You must run the course with at least one tutor, who must be present for the full duration of the course. 7.3.3 You must specify the tutor:student ratio for your course and you must ensure that the required number of tutors is available. You will be required to demonstrate how your course has been designed to accommodate these criteria within your defined tutor:student ratio. Page 9

8 VARIATIONS 8.1 We will consider requests for variations to any of these criteria, or in respect of any special circumstances. In this situation you should submit a written request to us immediately the requirement for the variation becomes apparent. 9 STUDENT ASSESSMENT 9.1 In order to satisfactorily complete the course each student must complete all elements of the course, covering all Learning and Enabling Objectives. 9.1.1 You must give each student feedback on his or her achievement of the Enabling and Learning Objectives during the course and provide, where practical, the opportunity to improve. 9.1.2 For self-study courses or where student learning is conducted remotely (e.g. on the Internet), you must: a) Record each student s completion of each section of the course. b) Verify, as far as is practically possible, that the student completing each section of the course is the registered student. 10. ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL 10.1 Your training course advertising and promotional material must not state nor imply that satisfactory completion of this course fulfils any of the training requirements for certification to any grade of QMS Auditor. Page 10

GLOSSARY Classroom Self-study The environment where students can interact with each other and with the tutor, in real time. This can either be a real classroom or training room, or a virtual classroom supported by appropriate software. Arrangements by which students can work alone through course materials. Self-study materials can be in any appropriate media, including hard copy text, e-learning or other electronic media, video, audio tape etc. Page 11