The Irish Cleanroom Society and Cleanroom Training
The Society was set up in 1998 and the Constitution states that a fundamental part of its activity is to "advance the education of the public in matters relating to the practice and science of cleanroom technology and contamination control".
Since 2003, the Society has worked closely with the CTCB-I (Cleanroom Testing and Certification Board International) and have run a series of training courses developed by the CTCB-I.
In 2007, the International Confederation of Contamination Control Societies (ICCCS), an international body comprising national cleanroom societies world-wide, felt that it was desirable to have an international standard for training courses, especially as the industry is such a global one.
The ICCCS, based in Switzerland, set up an ICCCS Education Board (formerly called ICEB - International Cleanroom Educational Board)) to promote the preparation and accreditation of internationally recognised educational courses for people who design, construct, test, monitor, operate, and work as operators in cleanrooms. Courses would be accredited through a submission sent to the ICCCS Accredited Education that would provide information about the course and demonstrate that the course is conformed to an accreditation framework.
Currently, the CTCB-I courses held in Ireland and The Netherlands have been accredited by the ICCCS Accredited Education.
Courses are accredited if they comply with the current 'Accreditation Guidelines' set down by the ICCCS Education Board. Member societies of ICCCS may apply for the accreditation of any course they have developed on any subject relating to cleanrooms and, as long as it complies with the Accreditation Guidelines, the course will be accredited. However, it is desirable to develop standard educational courses on important aspects of contamination control in cleanrooms that are harmonised and offered internationally by various member societies. In addition to fulfilling the requirements given in the Accreditation Guidelines, such as examination procedures, course advisory board, competency of the trainers/lecturers, exam appeals procedure, etc., the following additional requirements have to be satisfied.
The ICCCS Accredited Education certified courses that the Irish Cleanroom Society offers are the following:
All courses follow a 'Basic Guidelines' quality assurance system and include:
- suitable course content
- relevant and up-to-date notes or text books
- expert lecturers
- the setting of clear and unambiguous exam questions
- suitable exam marking practices
- an examination and advisory board to audit the course and exams
- public traceability of a person's certificate
A full list of certified people is available on the ICS website (Successful candidates in the Training Section) and on the CTCB-I website (Registers).
The Cleanroom Testing (Professional) qualification is valid for five years from the date of passing the practical examination. After this time the candidate must attend the course again and be reaccredited for a further five years. The Cleanroom Testing (Associate) qualification is valid 10 years. The Cleanroom Technology qualification does not have any time limit.
* The courses are usually oversubscribed so early registration is recommended.