Wed, 11 September, 2019
Having issued its first certificates in 1969, CSWIP has gone on to issue certificates to over 40,000 industry professionals around the world.
The last 50 years has seen CSWIP develop and grow in response to advances in technology and the changing requirements of industry.
While technological advancements have brought many advantages for society, they have also created challenges for the continuing credibility and integrity of CSWIP certification.
One of the main challenges facing TWI Certification Ltd is the poor behaviour of those who seek to cheat the system and mislead their employers and customers by forging CSWIP and BGAS-CSWIP certificates and ID cards.
Due to the growth of photo-editing software and the many photo and document sharing websites, social media platforms and even websites dedicated to the creation of fake certificates, it is increasingly possible for an employer to encounter a counterfeit certificate.
Some individuals have sought to bypass the rigorous process of gaining an official certificate by seeking to gain a falsified document through illegitimate means, but TWI Certification Ltd has been taking active steps to counteract these counterfeit certificates.
Employers should use the TWI CL free online verification service to check the validity of all CSWIP or BGAS-CSWIP certificates (www.cswip.com/verification/).
However, certificate holders can also help by ensuring their certificate is in a safe place and that they do not publish copies of their certificates online – even to career-specific sites such as LinkedIn. We understand that certificate holders may wish to demonstrate their competence to current or future employers, but there is no need to share an image of the certificate online, as employers can use the verification site for validation of their certification status.
In fact, the uploading of CSWIP and BGAS-CSWIP Certificates and/or CSWIP/BGAS-CSWIP ID Cards online is a breach of our code of conduct, as it constitutes a misuse of the certificate and could result in their withdrawal.
Posting images of certificates or ID cards online enables unscrupulous and opportunistic individuals the chance to falsify certificates. These falsifications are damaging to the CSWIP brand and, by association, the certification you have achieved.
Anyone discovered falsifying (or knowingly aiding in the falsification of) a certificate is immediately reported to the police. A case was put before Halifax Crown Court, with the defendant pleading guilty to the offence of ‘Attempting to obtain a pecuniary advantage by deception, namely to falsely represent that he was the holder of a welding inspectors certificate.’
If you have any difficulty with verification of a CSWIP or BGAS-CSWIP certificate, please email verification@twi.co.uk and we will look into the matter for you.