BACKGROUND
The Board of Environmental, Health and
Safety Auditor Certifications (BEAC) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC)
have signed a joint Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate implementation of
ACC's Responsible Care Management System® (RCMS®) third-party certification
requirement. Responsible Care® is an
award-winning initiative through which ACC members and partners demonstrate
their commitment to the health, safety and security of employees, communities
and the environment. Under the MOU
agreement executed between ACC and BEAC, BEAC provides programs in the
following three areas, (1) Responsible Care® auditor certification, (2) RCMS®
Audit Service Provider approval, and (3) Responsible Care® Training Course
Provider recognition. This document
describes the procedures required to become a BEAC Responsible Care® Certified
Professional Environmental, Health and Safety Auditor.
BEAC CERTIFICATION
The BEAC Responsible Care® CPEA
certification is an attestation of an auditor’s education, EHS auditing
experience, auditor training, personal and professional skills and attributes,
and adherence to the BEAC Code of Ethics.
The Responsible Care® CPEA certification criteria has been developed to
ensure that the third party Certification process of the American Chemistry
Council’s (ACC) Responsible Care® Management System sustains public confidence
and acceptance by defining the minimum qualifications and training requirements
for auditors involved in Responsible Care® certification audits. The Responsible Care® certificated auditor
process has been established to ensure that the auditor’s qualification and
training process will be administered consistently and fairly, and to prevent
potential conflicts of interests that might influence an auditor’s findings or
recommendations or public perceptions of the legitimacy of the certification
audit results.
BEAC’s evaluation and
certification of a Responsible Care® Certified Auditor are based upon the auditor meeting ACC’s
RCMS® and BEAC’s criteria for certification. BEAC is not liable or responsible for
ensuring that a certified Responsible Care®
auditor conducts Responsible Care® audits
properly. If problems arise with the
manner in which a certified Responsible Care®
auditor conducts him/herself, BEAC should be notified immediately. The Ethics Committee will be assigned
responsibility for review and corrective actions, if necessary, in accordance
with BEAC’s defined processes. BEAC
shall not offer recommendations on which certified Responsible Care® Certified Auditors should be used to conduct Responsible
Care® audits.
BEAC will maintain a list of all certified Responsible Care® Certified Auditors and this list will be made available to
appropriate parties on the BEAC website.
CRITERIA FOR BEAC CERTIFICATION
Individuals
seeking Responsible Care® auditor certification must demonstrate that they have
complied with all requirements defined in RCMS205.XX, Responsible Care®
Certification Auditor Qualification and Training Requirements. This document is provided on the ACC Responsible
Care® Toolkit website at the following link:
http://www.responsiblecaretoolkit.com/certification.asp.
A summary of the
requirements is provided below – please refer to RCMS205.00 for specific
requirements that must be observed:
1.
Education - Auditor shall have a Bachelors Degree or higher (equivalency review
can be requested).
2.
Training - Auditor shall provide evidence of at least 40 hours training in the
past 3 years. As part of this training,
the auditor shall successfully complete an ACC qualified Responsible Careâ course in accordance with
“Responsible Careâ Certification Auditor Course
Requirements” (RCMS206.XX).
3.
Character References - Auditors shall provide (2) written character
references in accordance with the ACC designee’s certification application
procedure.
4.
Experience:
●
General Work
Experience – The applicant will be
required to demonstrate 4 years relevant work experience. Relevant work experience shall be considered
verifiable experience gained during the last ten (10) years and shall be
defined as experience that develops skills and understanding in at least two
of the areas described below:
§ Implementation of
Responsible Care® programs;
§ Environmental, Health and
Safety (EH&S) science and technology;
§ Work experience gained by
actual hands on roles in the chemical process industry and/or EH&S
services;
§ Product Stewardship,
Transportation or Distribution of chemical products;
§ Requirements of EH&S
laws, regulations and related documents; and
§ EH&S/ Responsible Care®
management systems and standards or related auditing procedures, processes and
auditing techniques.
● Specific Work Experience - Work experience
qualification shall not be satisfied by experience solely in management systems
and auditing. Clear evidence of work
experience, such as in the chemical industry, or EH&S fields that provides
an understanding of these issues, shall be required.
● Auditing – To
be considered for initial certification, each applicant must have performed at
least 4 EHS-related management system audits consisting of at least 20 total
days within the past two years.
5.
Certification Exam – In addition to satisfying all the requirements described above, the
individual must successfully pass the six-hour BEAC Responsible Care®
certification examination to become a certified Responsible Care® Certified Auditor.
6.
Conditional Responsible Care® Auditor – Applicants who cannot meet all the Auditing Experience or
Certification Exam requirements as defined above, can apply for
“Conditional Responsible Care® auditor” status. To qualify, a
“Conditional Responsible Care® auditor” must have (1) successfully passed the required certification
exam OR (2) completed four management
system audits. A “Conditional
Responsible Care®
auditor” designation will allow the individual to serve on a RCMS® audit team until the end of
2005. The individual must obtain their
Responsible Care®
Auditor Certification by the end of 2005 or they will not be allowed to
participate on future RCMS® audits.
Individuals granted the interim, conditional standing must accurately
reflect their professional status at all times as “Conditional Responsible Care® auditor”. A
“Conditional Responsible Care® auditor” cannot
serve in the lead auditor role without prior written approval of the audited
company and BEAC.
In providing
information to satisfy the above requirements, each applicant must certify that
all of the information provided is true and correct. Each applicant must give BEAC permission to
contact listed references, present and past employers, and to verify any and
all information contained in their application.
In addition, each applicant must state that they have read and agree to
abide by the provisions of the BEAC Code of Ethics and the qualification
criteria set forth in the Responsible Care® Certified Auditor program.
BEAC RESPONSIBLE CARE® AUDITOR CERTIFICATION PROCEDURES
Individuals who wish to
obtain BEAC’s Responsible Care® certification must complete the BEAC Responsible Care® Certified Auditor Application. This application is presented on the BEAC
website.
These materials should be submitted along with fee payment to:
BEAC Program Director
247
Maitland Avenue
Altamonte
Springs, FL 32701-4201
Phone:
(407) 831-7727 / Fax: (407)
830-7495
The application
will be reviewed by BEAC for submittal of all required information and payment
of applicable fees. Once the application
is complete and fees paid, BEAC staff will provide the application to the BEAC
Certification Committee for review and approval. If the Committee determines that all required
information meets BEAC and Responsible Care® requirements, the individual will
be conditionally certified pending successful completion of the BEAC Management
System examination. Upon passing of the
exam, the Certification Committee will make a recommendation to the BEAC Board
to award the individual the BEAC Responsible Care® Certified Auditor certification. The Board will make the final determination.
Any individual not approved – either at
time of initial application or after the exam – will receive from BEAC written
comments of their deficiencies. If the deficiencies are addressed within five
years of the original application date, no additional application fee will be
required. Should the deficiencies be
addressed after five years from the original application date, it will be
considered a new application.
FEES
Individuals seeking
Responsible Care®
auditor certification must include appropriate payment with their
application. The application fee is
non-refundable and covers the cost of BEAC’s approval process, including the
cost of the examination. The total
application fee is $395 – if the individual is already a BEAC certified auditor
in another designation, the fee is $245.
LEAD AUDITOR
The individual serving in the “Lead Auditor” role for the Responsible
Care® audit, shall satisfy one of the following to be eligible to
serve as a lead auditor.
● Shall have participated in
at least 6 audits within the past 2 years, totaling 20 days, and covering
EH&S management systems and/or the Responsible Care Management System®.
● If a lead auditor
candidate's audit experience does not satisfy above requirements, the candidate
shall be allowed to demonstrate competence by participating in at least two
RCMS® audits within the past year, totaling 10 days, and
by receiving a documented positive recommendation on both audits from the Lead
Auditor.
It is the
responsibility of the ASP to ensure that their lead auditor for each audit
comply with this requirement. The ASP is
required to state the lead auditor’s name and to confirm that the lead auditor
meets these requirements in their attestation letter to BEAC required before
each RCMS® audit.
(Reference BEAC’s RCMS® Audit Service Provider
Program document.)
MAINTENANCE OF AUDITOR
CERTIFICATION
All
Responsible Care® Certified Auditors must
continually meet the Auditing and Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
requirements outlined below. Responsible
Care® Certified Auditors shall provide evidence of
continued qualification to BEAC every two (2) years. A copy of BEAC’s Audit and Continuing
Education form is presented on their website.
1.
Responsible Care® Certified Auditors shall
participate in the equivalent of at least four (4) Responsible Care® audits every two (2) years;
2.
Responsible Care® Certified Auditors shall
successfully complete at a minimum 40 total hours of CPD every two (2) years;
3.
Feedback on individual auditor’s performance may be provided by the
audited organization to the Audit Service Provider. This feedback, at the discretion of the
audited organization may be provided to BEAC.
If necessary, based on significant and repeated negative feedback, BEAC
may review an Auditor’s eligibility for Responsible Care® audits.
REMOVAL OF CERTIFICATION
STATUS
BEAC reserves the right to revoke the auditor
certification based upon the individual failing to comply with BEAC’s Code of
Ethics and Standards of Conduct or with Responsible Care® Certified Program requirements as provided in this document. BEAC will communicate any removal of the
certified auditor’s status in writing.
Any disputes with BEAC’s decision can be communicated to BEAC as defined
in the Complaints and Disputes section below.
COMPLAINTS AND DISPUTES
Complaints and disputes against BEAC, staff, and
agents associated with the Responsible Care® Certification Program shall
be submitted in writing to BEAC. BEAC
will process the complaint/dispute in accordance with its defined processes
which are managed by the Ethics
Committee. The Ethics Committee decision
will be communicated in writing to the Responsible Care® Certified Auditor or
applicant. The certified auditor or
applicant can appeal the decision and request a hearing with a panel appointed
by the BEAC Board. All decisions of the
hearing panel will be final.
ACC TECHNICAL OVERSIGHT
BOARD (TOB)
Acting on behalf of the ACC, the TOB reserves the
right to monitor BEAC’s performance in accordance with its obligations as
defined in the MOU executed between ACC and BEAC. If BEAC fails to administer its Responsible
Care® auditor certification in accordance with ACC
criteria - based upon the recommendation of the TOB - ACC may revoke BEAC’s
authority to certify Responsible Care® Certified Auditors.
INDEMNIFICATION
The
Responsible Care® Certified Auditor applicant agrees that BEAC, its directors, employees, or agents will not be
liable or responsible for any aspects of the BEAC certified auditor’s audit
performance. The applicant agrees
to indemnify BEAC, its directors, employees, and agents from and against any
and all loss, damage or liability resulting from demands, claims, suits, or
actions associated with the performance of a Responsible Care® certification audit
or from the certified auditor application process. The indemnity provided shall include, but not
be limited to court costs, attorney’s fees, costs of investigation, costs of
defense, settlements, and judgments associated with such demands, claims, suits
or actions. The indemnification shall
survive the cancellation, termination, completion, or expiration of the auditor
certification.
WAIVER OF RIGHTS
The
Responsible Care® Certified Auditor applicant agrees
that the decision of BEAC regarding its application for certification or
removal of certification is final.
Applicant specifically waives any and all potential claims regarding
BEAC’s action on its application or removal of certification. Applicant releases BEAC, its directors,
employees, and agents from any and all liability associated with the certified
auditor application or certified auditor process.
CONFIDENTIALITY
The materials submitted by the certified auditor applicant to BEAC
for use in the evaluation will not be copied or distributed to any party
outside of BEAC’s Certification Committee.
The application and all original supporting materials will be maintained
indefinitely in a confidential file in the BEAC headquarters for the sole
purpose of this approval process. BEAC
acknowledges that the applicant reserves any and all rights to the materials,
and BEAC will not reproduce or transmit the materials in any form by any means
without prior written permission of the applicant.
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