As an IRCA registered training provider I get regular updates from the IRCA regarding their thoughts about how things should move forward in the future. Right now, not before time, the QMS Lead Auditor exams are in the process of being reviewed and revised. I say “not before time” as they’ve been the same now for about 6 years and there is increasingly strong evidence to suggest that the answer papers are quite easy to get hold of in certain parts of the world, if you know who to ask. This is bound to happen, of course, and the longer the papers remain the same, then the greater the likelihood it will happen. So, for that reason alone, some new test papers are long overdue

The IRCA do seem keen to take this opportunity not just to change the papers, but also to review the content, structure and nature of the test. My own opinion is the the OHSMS Lead Auditor papers are a much better test of learning and ability. The questions are tough, yes, and the pass rates are not as high, but the one thing you don’t get with the OHSMS papers is a fluke or a lucky “false positive”. People who pass the OHSMS paper have to earn their achievement. The reason for this is that there are no  “pot luck” type questions. No multiple choice questions, no non-conformity writing questions in section 4. The whole paper requires descriptive answers (some short answer, some longer). So you need to know your stuff and to be able to explain yourself to pass this paper. As I said, a tough test, but a fair test

The QMS papers are different. There is a multiple choice section which can be answered in a “pot luck” type of way. Can we tell whether the person is knowledgeable or just lucky? No we can’t

Section 4 still contains an evaluation section where you get three short paragraphs that may contain evidence of a non-conformity. The student then has to either raise a NCR or describe why the evidence is inconclusive and what further evidence needs to be sought. On the face of it this might seem like a fair enough test. In practice (and those of you who have been through this will know EXACTLY what I mean) the information given is often less than clear and misinterpretation is common. The problem is bad enough for native English speakers but it is multiplied when the paper is taken by non-native English speakers. It can give both lucky false positives and also false negatives when good people just can’t decipher the information in the way that the writer intended. Anyway, this is under review and personally I can’t wait for it to be changed

Should “open book” be scrapped?

The other issue that is up for review is the concept of the “open book” exam. There is some pressure (and I support this view) that the open book exam format needs to be scrapped, and a “closed book plus the standard” format adopted. For me the open book format has been abused by some providers. Courses have been constructed that train to the exam, not train to deliver competences. In practice this means that sections of the student notes and hand-outs are constructed to mirror the answers to all the exam questions. It also means that course exercises can be designed to mirror upcoming exam questions, and twisted just a little. So all the answers may be more or less on the flip-chart output displayed all around the room. It happens. Now the closed book format won’t totally stop these practices, but it will stop given information being copied verbatim on to the paper by people who may or may not have achieved the learning objectives. Like I said, I am a supporter of the closed book format and have been one of those pushing for the change

Tell us what you think

The main purpose of this post is actually to get some feedback from you people about this matter. How do you feel about this? Those of you who have been through the OHSMS papers, or the QMS papers, how did you feel about the content, the questions, the open book format? Whilst the IRCA and training providers are clearly stakeholders in this equation, so are customers. So anyway, if you have a view, let’s hear it and I’ll make sure it gets fed back to inform the review process. Leave your views by adding a comment to the foot of this post

Tags: IRCA qms exam, qms lead auditor, QMS lead auditor exam, qms lead auditor training

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 6th, 2009 at 2:02 pm and is filed under Auditing, ISO 9000.
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