Software Quality Assurance Training

DOE is committed to provide qualified staff to assist, guide, direct, oversee and evaluate its safety software. The Department’s Safety Software Quality Assurance Functional Area Qualification Standard (FAQS) establishes common functional area competency requirements for its personnel.  Additionally, specific Office/Facility-Specific Qualification Standard supplements the technical FAQS and establishes unique operational competency requirements.

One of the first steps undertaken in July 2003 was the issuance of DOE Notice 411.1, Safety Software Quality Assurance Functions, Responsibilities, and Authorities (FRA) for Nuclear Facilities and Activities. This notice assigned roles and responsibilities for the improvement of safety software quality assurance (SQA). DOE Order 414.1D supersedes DOE Notice 411.1.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Federal Technical Capability Program Policy, P 426.1, issued by the Secretary in December 1998, commits DOE to continuously strive for technical excellence and establishes the Technical Qualification Program (TQP). The TQP, along with the supporting technical Functional Area Qualification Standards, complements the personnel processes that support DOE's drive for technical excellence. Detailed operating requirements for the TQP and Functional Area Qualification Standards are described in the Federal Technical Capability Manual, DOE M 426.1-1.

To ensure that DOE personnel possess and maintain the appropriate level of competency required for their positions, DOE has committed to provide training for its personnel.  Public courses on software quality engineering were researched and compared with the technical qualifications.  The American Society for Quality (ASQ) Software Quality Engineering (SQE) course, that is based upon industry accepted practices in SQE, best matches DOE-STD-1172-2003, Safety Software Quality Assurance Functional Area Qualification Standard, competencies requirements.  This course has as its foundation, ASQ’s SQE body of knowledge that has been used to certify hundreds of software quality engineers across the United States since 1997.A crosswalk was done between the Safety Software Quality Assurance competency Requirements and the ASQ Software Engineering course for competencies satisfied by this course.

DOE will update this material from time to time. Suggestions and recommendations may be sent to Subir Sen in the Office of Corporate Safety Programs.

Quality Assurance Library/Training