Koos Agricola, Chairman, Cleanroom Testing and Certification Board – International (CTCB- I) and Sant Advani, Secretary, Contamination Control Society of India (CCSI) talk about their new programmes for the Indian market
What are the core objectives of International Confederation of Contamination Control Societies (ICCCS) and how does it function?
Koos Agricola (KA): The ICCCS is a platform for national societies to exchange knowledge and information on cleanroom technology and contamination control. There are three fields in which this is done: development of standards, organising symposia and education. In 2016, ICCCS reorganised itself in order to function better in these fields. The executive board has set up committees on education, standards, events, members and communication. The goal is to create more value for ICCCS members.
The ICCCS members meet once in a year. These meetings are combined with the ISO TC209 meetings. In 2018, the meeting will be held in The Netherlands.
Are there any plans to incorporate new courses for India?
KA: The ICCCS Education Committee has worked as a separate organisation called ICEB (International Cleanroom Education Board) in the past. They developed an accreditation programme for international courses by ICCCS members. This programme will be continued and extended. The International Education Committee (IEC) plans to develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for standard ICCCS courses. The first ICCCS course is the Cleanroom Behaviour or Cleanroom Pass course. This course can be conducted by members in their own languages using the IEC SOP’s. They can issue an ICCCS Cleanroom Pass stating that the bearer knows the basics of cleanrooms and understand the entry and behaviour procedures. This is good for manufacturing companies for their employees, but especially for services companies.
Till now, how many Indian pharma companies have trained professionals in cleanroom technology and what is their progress report?
Sant Advani (SA): Close to 20 major pharma companies have sent delegates to our certification courses held in Mumbai and Hyderabad. There were a total of 87 candidates for the two courses including representatives from cleanroom contractors and validators.
It is too early to get a feedback from the participating companies as the first certification programme was held only six months ago. I am confident that positive feedback will start flowing in shortly.
How many such courses/ programmes have you planned to introduce for the Indian market? Are these courses accredited by domestic/ international body?
SA: We have held two courses for the intermediate level Contamination Control personnel and plan to hold three more courses in Bengaluru, Goa and Ahmedabad. We are planning an advanced level course which will be launched in November 17. Both the courses are accredited by the ICCCS headquartered in Holland. The certificates issued to the successful candidates bear the logos of ICCCs and CCSI and are recognised internationally.
What is the future for Indian pharma cleanroom market?
SA: The Indian pharma industry is set to grow exponentially due to rising international demand and domestically the government’s push to the healthcare sector is very positive. CCSI with its training initiatives hopes to contribute to the success.