Review Panel
The ICCP’s Council, on the recommendation of the Accreditation Sub-Committee, has appointed three world renowned organic petrographers to its Review Panel. Each member has a thorough working knowledge of the petrographic methods being assessed by the Accreditation Sub-Committee and each member is not a current participant in the Accreditation Programs. The Review Panel is appointed by the Executive Council for a term of three years, which is renewable, subject to the members’ willingness to be part of the Review Panel. The names and affiliations of the members of the Review Panel will not, normally, be revealed.
The Review Panel’s principal role is to assess and to make appropriate and timely decisions relating to appeals made by individual petrographers. The members of the Review Panel are not expected to analyse coal samples to quantify or cross check the petrographic data being assessed. The Review Panel may, if the need arises, refer the samples under review to other accredited petrographers for confirmation of petrographic variables, the costs for which shall be borne by the Accreditation Program. Summaries of the Review Panel’s decisions shall be tabled at Annual Meetings of the Executive Council, brief summaries of which shall be presented in the Accreditation Sub-Committee’s report to the ICCP membership.
APPEAL PROCESS
Procedure for Appeals
- Participating petrographers have the right to appeal against any decision made by the Accreditation Sub-Committee. Appeals must be lodged, in writing, within thirty (30) days from the receipt of advice that Accreditation has not been granted.
- Initial contact should be made with the ICCP Accreditation Program Co-ordinator.
- It may be possible for the Co-ordinator to resolve the appeal. This would normally be restricted to cases where it is agreed that procedural errors have been made.
- The Co-ordinator may suggest that the basis of the Appeal can be resolved by further testing of analytical techniques by the petrographer in question. In this case, the Co-ordinator will arrange for additional coal blocks or reflectance standards to be sent to the petrographer for analysis. These results will then be evaluated in the normal way.
- The Co-ordinator may advise the appellant that the appeal will be referred, through the Chair of the Accreditation Sub-Committee, to the formal Review Panel.
- All decisions of the Co-ordinator and relevant correspondence (including electronic mail) from the Co-ordinator and appellant will be forwarded, through the Chair of the Accreditation Sub-Committee, to the members of the Review Panel for their assessment and comment.
- All decisions of the Review Panel will be conveyed, through the Chair of the Accreditation Sub-Committee, to the Co-ordinator for noting, before they are mailed to the petrographer by the Co-ordinator.
- The names of the members of the Review Panel will not, normally, be revealed.
- Once the decision of the Review Panel is finalised, then that decision is binding on the petrographer and no further correspondence will be entered into.
Reasons for an Appeal
A variety of reasons could form a valid basis for an appeal against a decision by the Accreditation Sub-Committee. Equipment failure, unknown at the time of analysis, or problems with equipment calibration will not normally form a basis for a reference to the Review Panel, but would be sufficient reason for assistance through provision of samples for additional testing.
Reasons for an Appeal may include:
- late or non-arrival of samples, due to a slow postal service or to a loss of samples during transit;
- misinterpretation of data from the original data sheets submitted for evaluation; and
- loss of results due to postal problems, or problems with facsimile or electronic mail transmission.
This list is not definitive and there may exist additional reasons why an Appeal may be considered.
Format for Reporting of Appeals by the Co-ordinator
The Co-ordinator shall summarise the number and nature of Appeals received, and the decisions of the Review Panel. This summary will be included in the Annual Report of the Accreditation Sub-Committee and presented at the Annual Meeting of the ICCP. The summary report will not divulge the names or affiliations of the petrographers involved with individual Appeals, but would report the number of Appeals processed and those Appeals that have not been finalised.