ABSTRACT
Most of my colleagues tend to think of certification as applying to standards and verification of ergonomics professional practice, rather than to the systems we help design. This may illustrate both the self-referential nature of professional groups and also genuine concerns about professional certification. These concerns are germane to the present argument because certification of systems may reduce in the end to certification of professionals in the process (an issue returned to later). Any misunderstandings over the notion of certification may be in part responsible for misgivings amongst some ergonomists and also their clients. If certification is seen only as a formalization and standardization of ergonomics activities, then there can be considerable opposition. When seen as a design review and approvals procedure, response seems more favorable. Certification, strictly, is merely the provision of a (written) official declaration of qualification or status. More usefully, it should be the “result of an applied examination process devised to formally test and affirm that the system being inspected satisfies certain accepted criteria” (Taylor & MacLeod, 1994, p. 164).
