Personal and professional standards - a major development

The Association has always taken a catholic view of standards. The identification of communal need, the codifying and quantification of aspirations, and the provision of measurable and objective standards to assess conformity have been strongly supported, whether in the intercompany, national, or international sphere. The introduction of a new standard1 to cover personal and professional attributes is therefore doubly welcome, both in the recognition it gives to individuals, and the reassurance it gives to the general public.

A good standard is one which commands national and international respect, but also provides objective criteria against which capabilities can be measured. It sets out a testing regime with pass/fail criteria. It will be capable of providing a rigorous framework for dispute resolution. Finally, compliance will be able to be verified by first-, second-, or third-party assessment processes.

The mark of a traditional professional (doctor, lawyer, academic etc) has long been the attainment of identified capabilities, through examination, structured experience, and ultimately peer review. It is formally marked by the award of a national certificate from a recognised institute deriving its credibility directly from the Crown (in the monarchies) or the office of the President (in republics). Most recognition systems also require those possessing identified professional capabilities to continue to display them, and the names of members of a profession to be entered on a register.

The new 'standard' has been drawn up by the Science Council, a body set up to regulate (under Crown prescription) the profession of science in the UK. The Science Council establishes and disseminates good professional practice through its members (in a very similar way to that in which national standards organisations draw up proposals for, and texts of, product standards). It has chosen to licence some of its members to award the designation of Chartered Scientist. Licensees are required to demonstrate a) that they represent a unique science, b) that they have a rigorous regime for assessing the professional competence of their members, and c) that they have an operational mechanism for regulating the professional behaviour of their members. A route has therefore been opened for senior scientists to enjoy the same professional recognition to that currently enjoyed by chartered engineers, chartered accountants, and other professions which maintain standards of professional practice, and regulate the conduct of their members.

Conclusion

As a method for enhancing the science of surface coatings, the introduction of this standard is considered to be very positive. The methodology follows the best standards practice, and provides for innovative approaches to certification. It is to be hoped that the model now developed can be widened to embrace the world-wide community of surface coating scientists.

Note

The Association is the scientific body within the surface coating sphere licenced to operate an assessment and quality scheme leading to the award of Chartered Scientist for suitably qualified OCCA Members. Full details are posted on the Association's members website www.occaonline.net, and additional guidance can be obtained from gensec@occa.org.uk.

Standards - or textbooks?

Last year, a standard was published covering the representation of the results of particle-size analysis,2 and reviewed on these pages.3 A new standard4 has now been issued on a related topic.

In the old days in our industry, things were a little easier. There were only a couple of realistic ways to measure particle sizes in a surface coatings laboratory. Nevertheless, the opportunity for dispute arose very infrequently, particularly for particle diameters at or above 1 micrometre. Anisotropy could be readily assessed using the 'Mark 1 eyeball', which, coupled with an optical microscope, gave the requisite level of reproducibility and repeatability.

The 'definitions' in the new standard take us into Euler numbers, and diameters (both Feret and Haywood). The report specified requires a comprehensive list of numerical data, together with a micrograph. The standard also requires the analyst to report any other 'useful' information.

Quite a lot of the standard would be easily recognisable to the analysts of the 60s. Much of the document, however, is its normative Annex A, an 18-page statistical dissertation of general applicability.

Conclusion

It has to be questioned why this standard has been published in the form it has. The conclusion of all these statistics is that 'A fairly large number of particles are required for precise measurement'. Well, yes.

References

1. 'Chartered Scientist - The Standard for Professional Scientists' publ by The Science Council 2004 [Return ]

2. BS ISO 9276-5 Representation of results of particle size analysis. art 5. Methods of calculation relating to particle size analyses using logarithmic normal probability distribution.[Return ]

3. JOCCA Part A10 2005 p390[Return ]

4. BS ISO 13322-1:2004 Particle size analysis - Image analysis methods - Part 1: Static image analysis methods[Return ]

British Standards are available from BSI, 384 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL, or from the Association at 1st Floor, 3 Eden Court, Eden Way, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire LU7 4FY, UK