THE APPLIED INSPECTION
NEWSLETTER

Issue No. 66 - February 2000

FROM THE EDITOR

Charitable Work by Applied Inspection
NDT was carried out by John Morris free of charge for a registered charity on 20th December 1999. It involved ultrasonics and MPI of a branch weld for the Sheffield Central Deaf Club, Surrey Street, Sheffield.

Millennium Bug
It is now well into January and Applied Inspection has not suffered any problems with the year 2000 date change. The action we took appears, so far, to have been effective.

PERSONNEL

Christmas Dinner and Dance
About fifty people attended the Applied Inspection Christmas Dinner and Dance and it was generally agreed that a good night was had by all. The highlight was a 'Full Monty' performance at midnight by five members of staff for Dawn Andrews, to get her birthday celebrations off to a good start.

Congratulations
To the following who have passed NDT examinations:

Re-certification Exams:
Clive Millard - PCN Level 2 RI (Welds) PT
John Morris - PCN Level 2 MT and PT

Initial Exams:
Lee Davies - PCN Level 2 RT (Welds)
Paul Goss - PCN Level 2 RT (Welds)
Ivan Hutson - PCN Level 2 RT (Welds)

Nick Bond and Russell Swain both passed all parts of the PCN RT (Welds) examination but got under 80% overall. They both have to re-sit one or two parts to get the necessary composite grade.

More Congratulations
To Ted Peake who attained the grand old age of 40 on 16th January. He received a birthday card from his children, Michael, Kelly and Charlotte that said,

"Dad, don't worry about the sagging belly, it will pull the wrinkles out of your face."

The National Lottery
The Applied Inspection lottery syndicate is run by Dawn Andrews and Keith Dashper at Holmewood. There are currently 29 members who each pay £1.00 per week (stopped at source) which is put on the Saturday lottery. Anyone who is not a member, and who would like to join, should contact Dawn or Keith.

Our winnings to date are as follows:
1995 - £160.00 (40 weeks)
1996 - £297.00 (52 weeks)
1997 - £220.00 (52 weeks)
1998 - £251.00 (52 weeks)
January, 1999 - £30.00 (5 weeks)
February, 1999 - £10.00 (4 weeks)
March, 1999 - £10.00 (4 weeks)
April, 1999 - £30.00 (4 weeks)
May, 1999 - £50.00 (5 weeks)
June, 1999 - £0.00 (4 weeks)
July, 1999 - £40.00 (5 weeks)
August, 1999 - £30.00 (4 weeks)
September, 1999 - £30.00 (4 weeks)
October, 1999 - £0.00 (4 weeks)
November, 1999 - £60.00
4 December, 1999 - £0.00
11 December, 1999 - £0.00
18 December, 1999 - £0.00
25 December, 1999 - £0.00
1 January, 2000 - £20.00
8 January, 2000 - £10.00
15 January, 2000 - £10.00
22 January, 2000 - £0.00
An additional £150.00 has been spent from our winnings in an attempt to win the three roll over jackpots in 1996. Any errors in the above list will be corrected as soon as possible.

QUALITY & TRAINING

Standards and Specifications
API 1104 Nineteenth Edition, September 1999, Welding of Pipelines and Related Facilities has replaced the Eighteenth Edition, May 1994.

NDT Training
The answers to the questions on Ultrasonics in last month's NEWSLETTER are as follows:

1)  C    2)  A     3)  B    4)  C

Here are some more questions, this time on Visual Testing:

1) Localised reduction in an area of a bolt that is under overload conditions is referred to as:
    A. sizing.
    B. necking down.
    C. erosion.
    D. elongation.

2) The fillet weld size is based on the:
    A. effective fillet weld throat.
    B. length of fillet weld.
    C. theoretical throat.
    D. length of fillet weld leg.

3) Embrittlement, caused by a physical or chemical change in the metal, is a reduction in:
    A. ductility.
    B. hardness.
    C. hydrogen.
    D. all of the above.

4) The deterioration of a metal by chemical or electrochemical reaction with its environment is called:
    A. corrosion.
    B. erosion.
    C. IGSCC.
    D. none of the above.

Quotation
"An industrious person seldom has a busy tongue."
ANON

Quality at Applied Inspection
As do most other companies, Applied Inspection has a number of statements relating to its position on that subject. They are Vision, Mission, Quality, Training, Health & Safety, Environmental, Equal Opportunities and Alcohol & Drugs.

These statements are contained in the Company Rules booklet, available at each site on the Notice Board, and the Health & Safety booklet, issued to all employees. In addition, from time to time we also publish the statements in the NEWSLETTER. We published our Vision and Training Policy statements last month, but as it's the start of a new millennium, here's our Vision Statement again:

Vision Statement
Applied Inspection aims to be internationally renowned for its supply to industry of first class nondestructive testing (NDT), engineering inspection and consultancy services.

HEALTH & SAFETY

New Appointment
John Morris, QA, HS&E Manager, was appointed as a 'competent person' on 4th January 2000, under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, 1992. John's duties, as a Health & Safety professional, are to assist management at Holmewood, Burton and Cleckheaton to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon Applied Inspection Ltd by or under the relevant statutory provisions.

Under the Health and Safety (Consultation with Employees) Regulations 1996, employers must consult all employees on matters affecting their health and safety at work. Any employee who wishes to comment on the above appointment should address his/her comments to David Thomas at Holmewood before 29th February 2000.

New Ionising Radiation Regulations
The Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (IRR99) came into force on 1 January 2000. They implement most of the revised Basic Safety Standards Directive (96/29/Euratom) and replace the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985 (IRR85). It is intended that new Applied Inspection 'Health & Safety Rules' will be issued to all staff by the end of March.

The most important changes, include:
· a new requirement for employers to be authorised before they use accelerators or X-ray sets for certain specified purposes;
· the introduction of Health and Safety Executive (HSE) criteria of competence for individuals or organisations wishing to act as radiation protection advisers (RPAs);
· a new requirement for employers to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment before they first start work activities with ionising radiation;
· enhanced requirements for restricting exposure as far as reasonable practicable;
· revised dose limits; and
· more flexibility in the designation of controlled and supervised areas.

Quotation
"No man is rich enough to buy back his past."
ASCAR WILDE

IRR99 contains several transitional provisions to ease its introduction such as employers who have notified HSE under IRR85 about work with ionising radiation, will not need to make fresh notifications under IRR99.

The requirement to restrict exposure as far as reasonably practicable now includes explicit provisions requiring the proper maintenance, examination and test of any engineering control, design feature, safety feature or warning device provided to restrict exposure. Also, there is a new provision concerning the working conditions of female employees who have declared to their employer that they are pregnant or breastfeeding.

The limits on effective dose (dose to the whole body) under IRR99 are:
· for employees aged 18 years or over, 20 millisieverts in a calendar year (except that in special cases employers may apply a dose limit of 100 millisieverts in 5 years with no more than 50 millisieverts in a single year, subject to strict conditions);
· for trainees, 6 millisieverts in a calendar year; and
· for any other person, including members of the public, 1 millisievert in a calendar year.

The dose limit for the skin now applies to doses averaged over an area of skin not exceeding 1 square centimeter.

CONTACTS

Holmewood, Derbyshire: Tel: 01246 851864 (3 Lines) Fax: 01246 852243
Burton, Staffordshire: Tel: 01283 515163 (3 Lines) Fax: 01283 539729
Cleckheaton, W Yorks: Tel/Fax: 01274 869900
Glasgow, Scotland: Tel/Fax: 0141 3355191
Internet Website: www.appliedinspection.co.uk

Published by: Applied Inspection Ltd., Holmewood, Chesterfield, UK. Editor: D K Thomas 26/01/2000

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