RETA Breeze May-June 2022

RETA TESTING CORNER NO. 30

RETA’S POSITION AS THE GOLD STANDARD Dr. Ron Rodgers, RETA’s Psychometrician (testing expert) and ANSI Accreditation Manager

RETA programs today offer three major levels of ammonia refrigeration certification. • CARO – Certified Assistant Refrigeration Operator, requires training but no prior experience in industrial refrigeration • CIRO – Certified Industrial Refrigeration Operator, requires two years of experience operating industrial refrigeration systems before taking the test • CRST – Certified Refrigeration Service Technician, requires CARO, CIRO or at least four years of experience operating or supporting industrial refrigeration facilities

June marks the 20th year of RETA’s commitment to providing the Gold Standard in Refrigeration Certification. RETA joined IIAR and IARW in the Ammonia Operator Certification and Training Retreat in Madison, Wisconsin in June 2002, three months after the American National Standards Institute announced the first ANSI 17024 Standards for personnel accreditation. By the fall of 2002, RETA started working with its first psychometrician toward meeting the new ANSI Standards.

An early indication of what RETA would need to meet ANSI Standards emerged from initial meetings with the testing coordinator for the association that managed RETA exams in 2002. She responded to questions about their level of test analysis and technical support for RETA by confessing, “I only learned how to run the test analysis software. I don’t know what most of the numbers in this report mean!” In 2004, RETA announced that all credential holders had to pass new CARO and CIRO exams starting in 2005 to remain certified. Since 2009, RETA has grown from 750 active credential holders to over 3,000 today; over

28 RETA.com