Friday 2nd November 2007
It was the third accreditation session of the year, and still the enthusiasm of the testers showed, turning out in their masses and making the event a real success. The IFI have been conducting accreditation sessions for over 6 years now, with over 389 pieces of equipment being tried, tested and modified.
The accreditation sessions held by the IFI give manufacturers, suppliers & distributors the perfect opportunity to gather vital qualitative & quantitative feedback about their product.
This time around, 4 equipment suppliers were given the opportunity to bring their latest equipment, testing against the recent IFI Stage 2 Equipment Standards by our IFI Equipment Panel and experienced testers.
The Equipment Panel arrived at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) bright and early on Wednesday morning at around 7.30am, eager to start the task at hand. Suppliers had travelled from the UK and Europe to assess the equipment at the IFI accreditation and they weren’t disappointed.
Over 25 experienced testers, pan-disability (physical, visual, hearing, learning disability, health and mental health conditions) attended the session and gave their expert opinions on the displayed equipment by conducting a number of practical tests. The testing was broke up into a morning and afternoon session. With enthusiasm high, the testers got straight about their work and with over 10 pieces of kit to assess, a long day was ahead of them.
At 12.30pm the equipment suppliers meeting was called and the testers broke for lunch. The suppliers meeting allows for the IFI to improve relations with the suppliers working closely with the IFI equipment standards, and also gives the suppliers the opportunity to ask questions, give feedback and increase their knowledge base. Klaus Schneider, Head of the European Standards Committee, made a special guest appearance giving the suppliers who attended an update of the BS EN957 Standards.
Overall the day was a huge success mainly due to the commitment from the IFI testers and Equipment Suppliers.
Marie Scott-Hepburn, IFI Project & Equipment Coordinator who organised the event said "Once again the accreditation day has been a great success. The equipment suppliers have been busy making observations and notes based on how the equipment has been used. It is a very valuable opportunity for them to see how the equipment works in a practical setting. Having talked to the testers throughout the day I am confident that there will be some really useful feedback for the suppliers to work with."
If you are interested in being an equipment tester at one of the IFI Accreditation sessions please contact the IFI Office on 0114 257 2060 (Textphone users add prefix 180001 for Typetalk) or email info@inclusivefitness.org
