The use of lasers has become so widespread that there is a growing need and market for credentialing of laser safety training courses and instructors. Credentialing, which is concerned with maintaining and improving the educational quality of instruction, assures the consumer that laser training companies meet established standards. Credentialing benefits both the laser consumer and the laser training company.
The consumer benefits because credentialing ensures that a laser training company meets established standards. From a safety perspective, credentialing assures the consumer that company employees have been properly trained. From a legal perspective, credentialing can help the consumer to demonstrate, in the event of a legal claim, that workers were properly trained to generally accepted standards. Finally, credentialing may be used to satisfy present and future governmental regulations.
Laser training companies benefit because credentialing increases the market for such training. Credentialing increases the market by establishing that laser safety training offers not only safety, but also legal and financial benefits. Moreover, credentialing can require regular re-training as a condition for continued certification, which further increases the training market. Another benefit to laser training companies is that credentialing is a means for companies to govern themselves through a voluntary association of educational entities, rather than as the result of governmental regulation.
This paper discusses credentialing options available to laser companies. These options include: certificate programs, college credits, Continuing Education Units (CEUs), accrediting agencies, and certification of laser training instructors and laser training programs. The paper discusses how to implement the various options, as well advantages and disadvantages of each.