A Guide to Certification in Professional Ergonomics - Fundamentals and Assessment Tools for Occupational Ergonomics - page 2

TABLE 1.1 Certification of the Ergonomist: Programs in Operation as of May 1994 a
Certification

/

Registration Authority Designation Acronyms

Nonsociety Board of Certification in Professional

Ergonomics (BCPE), U.S.A.

Certified Professional
Ergonomist

CPE

Certified Human Factors Professional CHFP

[Certified Ergonomics Associate] [CEA]

Ergonomist in Training:
Associate Ergonomics Professional AEP

Associate Human Factors Professional AHFP

Center for Registration of European
Ergonomists (CREE) European Union

European Ergonomist Eur.Erg.

Stichting Registratie ergonomen (SRe),
Netherlands

Registered Ergonomist R.e.

Society [Board for Certification of New Zealand

Ergonomists (BCNZE)]

[Certified New Zealand Ergonomist] [CNZErg]

[Canadian College for the Certification
of Professional Ergonomists (CCCPE)]

[Canadian Certified Professional
Ergonomist]

[CCPE]

[Ergonomist in Training:]
[Associate Ergonomist] [AE]

Professional Affairs Board (PAB) of the
Ergonomics Society, U.K.

Registered Member of the Ergonomics
Society (Professional Member)

M.Erg.S.

Fellow of the Ergonomics Society F.Erg.S.

Practitioner of the Professional Register

Professional Affairs Board (PAB) of the
[Human Factors and] Ergonomics
Society of Australia [(HFESA)]

Certified Professional [Ergonomist] [CPE]

Membership Subcommittee of the New
Zealand Ergonomics Society

Professional Member M.NZ.Erg.S

a Programs are also in operation in France, Belgium, and Sweden, but information on these was unavailable at the time of
original publication.
Note: Brackets indicate updations.
Source: From Slappendel, C. 1994. Proceedings of the 12th Triennial Congress of the IEA, Toronto, ON, Canada. D. Jahns.
A Guide to Certification in Professional Ergonomics. CRC Press 1998. With permission.

Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics (BCPE) as a valid and reliable certification organi-
zation. BCPE has also served informally as a consultant for certification efforts underway in Japan
and South Africa.
Similarly in Europe, the center for Registration of European Ergonomists (CREE) works with the ergo-
nomics societies of member countries in the European Union in evaluating and registering applicants for
the “Eur.Erg.” designation. The BCPE and CREE have a “reciprocity” agreement in place. As former
CREE President E. N. Corlett (personal communication, December 11, 1996) wrote: “Our policy at
the moment is to be linked with only one Registering body in each country. Because of our constitution,
this body has to have certain requirements, as laid out in the European Standard 45013 to which we
adhere. We have confirmed that BCPE fulfills these requirements.”
Further, the IEA, in an effort to establish professional practice standards for ergonomists around the
world, as well as harmonize ergonomic credentialing organizations on an international scale, has devel-
oped criteria and procedures for endorsing professional certifying bodies and programs. In 2001, the
BCPE became the first certification organization endorsed by the IEA, in accordance with the following
criteria (Criteria for IEA Endorsement, 2001):

1. The certifying body is acceptable to any relevant Federated Society.
2. The certifying body is national or international in scope.
3. The certifying body operates independently of any educational body or institute.