THE APPLIED INSPECTION
NEWSLETTER

Issue No. 71 - July 2000

FROM THE EDITOR

Health, Safety and Environmental (HS&E) are becoming increasingly important in the operation of any business. The nature of Applied Inspection's business (radiation, site work etc.) means that HS&E have always been at the top of the agenda. Recent events at one of our competitors have served to reinforce the importance of this attitude (see section headed Health and Safety).

Legislation planned by the Government is intended to add new impetus to HS&E. The Health and Safety Commission and the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions issued a Strategy Document in June 2000. It contains 44 action points including increasing the £20,000 maximum fine and provision to provide the courts with the power to imprison for most health and safety offences.

The strategy document (Revitalising Health and Safety, Strategy Statement - June 2000) can be obtained in full from http://www.detr.gov.uk/pubs/index.htm. Just click on 'Health and Safety, Revitalising' and you can download it in Adobe Acrobat format.

PERSONNEL

Pool Tournament
The draw for the second round of the Applied Inspection Pool Knockout Tournament is as follows:

Dawn Andrews v Nick Bond
Steve Wilkes v Alan Bartlett
Dave Thomas v Paul Jonstone or Steve Redshaw
Ian Bunting v Luke Urquhart
Steve Hancocks v Russell Swain
Leigh Clarke v Paul Goss
Ted Peake or Jamie Bacon v Andrew Robertson
Rachel Brittain v Graham Clay

Matches are to be played by 24 July2000.

Congratulations to Martin and Michelle Hall
On the birth of their baby, Amy, who was born prematurely on 17 June weighing 4lbs 15oz. Mother and baby are now doing fine after a spell in the intensive care unit for Amy.

Congratulations
Congratulations to the following who have passed NDT examinations:

To Peter Kemp and Kevin Armstrong who have passed their PCN Level 2 in Radiography, Welds.

To Graham Clay, Richard Soar and Andrew Robertson who have all passed their PCN Level 1 in Radiography, Welds.

In addition, Luke Urquhart and all of the above passed their PCN Basic Radiation Safety examinations.

Also, congratulations again to Kim Sharp who did the training course for the above and achieved a very high pass rate. Kim has since run a successful PCN training course for Enterprise Ireland (Sponsored by the Irish Government) in Dublin.

To Scott Young at Cleckheaton who passed ASNT Level 2 in Dye Penetrant Inspection.

To Mark Skelland who passed PCN Level 2 recertification examinations Magnetic and Penetrant testing.

The National Lottery
Dawn Andrews at Holmewood and Keith Dashper at Cleckheaton run the Applied Inspection lottery syndicate. There are currently 32 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)
1999 - £290.00 (52 weeks)
January, 2000 - £50.00 (5 weeks)
February, 2000 - £30.00 (4 Weeks)
March, 2000 - £50.00 (4 weeks)
April, 2000 - £10.00 (5 weeks)
6 May, 2000 - £0.00
13 May, 2000 - £10.00
20 May, 2000 - £10.00
27 May, 2000 - £0.00
3 June, 2000 - £0.00
10 June, 2000 - £0.00
17 June, 2000 - £0.00
24 June, 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
ANSI/AWS D1.1-2000 - Structural Welding Code - Steel has replaced ANSI/AWS D1.1-1998, which is withdrawn.

Investors in People
The IIP assessment is due on 17 and 18 July. The assessor will be interviewing various members of Applied inspection staff to ensure that they are familiar with company aims and policies, and how each individual fits into the scheme of things. If anyone isn't sure, now is the time to ask.

Joke of the Month
Question: You are trapped in a room with a tiger, a rattlesnake and a Manchester United fan. You have a gun with two bullets. What should you do?

Answer: Shoot the United fan twice.

TED PEAKE

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

1) A    2) D     3) B    4) B    

Here are some more questions, this time on Ultrasonics:

1. It is possible for a discontinuity smaller than the transducer to produce indications of fluctuating amplitude as the search unit is moved laterally if testing is being performed in the:
    A. Fraunhofer zone
    B. Near field
    C. Snell field
    D. Shadow zone

2. In immersion testing, the near field effects of a transducer may be eliminated by:
    A. Increasing transducer frequency
    B. Use of larger diameter transducer
    C. Using an appropriate water path
    D. Use of a focused transducer

3. The ultrasonic test method in which finger damping is most effective in locating a discontinuity is:
    A. Shear wave
    B. Longitudinal wave
    C. Surface wave
    D. Compression wave

4. Lamb waves can be used to detect:
    A. Laminar-type defects near the surface of a thin material
    B. Lack of fusion in the center of a thick weldment
    C. Internal voids in diffusion bonds
    D. Thickness changes in heavy plate material

Quotation
"Success is always temporary."
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. Here's our Training Policy:

Training Policy Statement
The company is committed to the training and development of its workforce at all levels. The aim is to enhance the organisation's capabilities through continuous performance improvement and develop excellence for its customers.

Each employee will be appraised at least once per year in order to review and improve performance and to explore ways of developing the individual for his/her current and future roles in line with the company's objectives.

Appropriate means for the development of individuals will be used. These may include:

o Internal and external training courses
o Coaching and counseling
o Setting improvement targets
o Task assignments, projects and secondments
o Team involvement
o Job rotation

All employees are encouraged to improve and develop their skills, knowledge and abilities through further education and reading.

HEALTH & SAFETY

New Health & Safety Rules
New Applied Inspection Health & Safety Rules, incorporating Local Rules under the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (IRR99), have now been withdrawn and re-issued in two parts - General Safety and Local Rules in accordance with IRR99. In addition, copies of Local Rules have been put on clients' Notice Boards, by agreement.

OIS plc Fined
OIS, the biggest NDT company in the UK, have been fined £10,000 plus £1,382 costs for breaches of the Ionising Radiations Regulations. This should serve as a reminder to all Applied Inspection radiographers to monitor the isotope / isotope container after every exposure, and to management to enforce the requirement.

The OIS personnel were working in an enclosure when the safety systems, both visual and audible alarm, failed to operate. The radiographer made the mistake of relying on the alarms, and not using the hand held radiation monitor supplied. The source was not fully retracted, and a diode in the enclosure safety system failed to operate. The radiographer was at fault and the company for not enforcing the requirement to monitor after every exposure.

Mobile Phones
Please remember that you must not use hand held mobile phones while driving. As well as being illegal it is also dangerous.

Recent research has suggested that the risk of accidents is much higher when people try to use a hand-held phone and drive at the same time.

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 28/06/2000

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