THE APPLIED INSPECTION
NEWSLETTER

Issue No. 70 - June 2000

FROM THE EDITOR

PCN/GEN/2000 Draft Issue 3
The above PCN document has been revised to reflect the new EN 473. The revised EN 473 includes a statement that Level 3 personnel may carry out all Level 1 and Level 2 duties. This did not appear in the previous version of EN 473.

PCN/GEN/2000 Draft Issue 3 has been amended to reflect this, but still includes a statement to the effect that PCN Level 3s are strongly recommended to maintain their Level 2 certificates in the same method. This imposes considerable additional costs on PCN Level 3s and their companies, not being borne by our counterparts in Europe.

I have written to John Thompson, the PCN Scheme Manager, to request that PCN/GEN/2000 be modified prior to issue, by removing the paragraph that 'strongly recommends' level 3 certificate holders to maintain their level 2s, and fall into line with the rest of Europe.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the debate can do so by logging on to the Applied Inspection website and follow the link to PCN/GEN/2000.

PERSONNEL

Pool Tournament
At the close for applications, the Applied Inspection Pool Knockout Tournament had 22 names put forward. It means playing six games in the first round and giving byes to the remaining 10 players. Ted Peake has made the draw, which is as follows:

Jamie Bacon v Ted Peake
Lee Armstrong v Paul Goss
Kevin Armstrong v Andrew Robertson
Steve Redshaw v Paul Johnstone
Dave Thomas v Lee Davies
Dawn Andrews v Chris O'Neill

First round of the competition to be played by 23 June.

Byes: Steve Wilkes, Russell Swain, Ian Bunting, Rachael Britton, Graham Clay, Nick Bond, Luke Urquhart, Steve Hancock, Alan Bartlett and Lee Clarke.

One of the favourites for the competition was Ted Peake. However, after being challenged by Paul Goss to an evening at £2.00 per game, Ted now makes Paul the favourite (He lost £30.00).

Gary Does 10 Years
Gary Whitworth completes 10 years service with Applied Inspection on 9th July this year. He is now a highly qualified and experienced member of staff holding PCN and ASNT Level 2 approvals in Radiography, Magnetic Particle and Dye Penetrant Inspection.

Congratulations
Congratulations to the following who have passed NDT examinations:

Russell Swain, Richard Pinto, Steve Hancock, Mark Hutsby, Luke Urquhart and Richard Soar who all passed PCN Level 2 Magnetic Particle Inspection.

Also, congratulations to Kim Sharp who did the training course for the above and achieved a 100% pass rate.

The National Lottery
The Applied Inspection lottery syndicate is run by Dawn Andrews and Keith Dashper at Holmewood. There are currently 30 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)
1 April, 2000 - £0.00
8 April, 2000 - £10.00
15 April, 2000 - £0.00
22 April, 2000 - £0.00
29 April, 2000 - £0.00
6 May, 2000 - £0.00
13 May, 2000 - £10.00
20 May, 2000 - £10.00
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

Congratulations Burton
Congratulations to all staff at Burton and in particular Ted Peake, Ian Bunting and Steve Redshaw. On 12 May 2000 an audit by DRS was carried out against ISO 9001 and railway standards GM/RT2005, GM/RT2451 and GM/RT2450.

The Lead Auditor concluded in his audit report:

"No non-compliances or observations were raised as a result of this audit. Applied Inspection possess vast experience in the field of NDT and this was reflected in the controls and systems operated within their management system".

NDT Training Course
Six Applied Inspection staff are currently taking a PCN level 1 training course in Radiography at Burton's training facility. They are Peter Kemp, Kevin Armstrong, Graham Clay, Richard Soar, Andrew Robertson and Luke Urquhart.

Standards and Specifications
There has been no update this month from BSI PLUS update service of controlled standards and specifications held by Applied Inspection. However, BSI have informed us that OHSAS 18001 and 18002 (Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems) cannot be controlled through the PLUS update service. They have, therefore, been removed from the master list.

Investors in People
Ted Peake, Ian Bunting and John Morris have been working hard to complete the documentation for IIP, which has now been taken by the assessor for review. The assessment is now scheduled for 17 and 18 July.

The assessor will want to speak to a sample of Applied Inspection staff at each site to ensure that they are familiar with company aims and policies, and how each individual fits into the scheme of things.

Joke of the Month - "What are Friends For?"
The young man was so pleased that he managed to get a ticket for the Superbowl match but when he got to the stadium, he found that his seat was so far back that he could hardly see the pitch.
Seeing an empty seat almost at the front of the stand he walked down the aisle and asked the older man sitting next to the empty seat if it was taken.
"No" said the man, whereupon the young man moved in and sat down. Making conversation the young man said, "I wonder why the seat is not taken?"
"Oh" said the older man, "It used to belong to my wife. We have had season tickets for years. But she died."
"Oh, I am sorry" said the younger man.
"Didn't you have any friends who could have taken it up for the game?"
"Yes" said the older man. "But they are all at the funeral."

PAT SLATER

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

1)  A     2)  D     3)  A     4)  C    

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

1. The part is an aluminium forging. Description -- the indication is sharp, half-moon shape, NOT deep, and is called a:
     A. lap.
     B. centre line porosity.
     C. heat-treat crack.
     D. false indication.

2. The part is a 1/2" thick aluminium plate with a Vee weld. Description -- the indication appears in an area that is somewhat dish-shaped. The indication extends out from the centre in a spoke formation. The indication is:
     A. shrinkage.
     B. non-relevant.
     C. a quench crack.
     D. a crater crack.

3. The part is an aluminium casting with a very complex design. In one section a flat area having a thickness of 1/8" exists. In the centre of this area is a round section, 2" thick and 1" in diameter. Linear indications about half the distance around the base where the thin section is joined are referred as:
     A. dross.
     B. hot tear.
     C. microshrinkage.
     D. porosity.

4. Continuous linear discontinuities along the length of a drawn bar would probably be classified as:
     A. stringers
     B. seams
     C. laps
     D. slivers

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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 Vision statement:

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

Ionising Radiation Regulations 1999 (IRR99)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have at last issued the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP). It came out on 16 May 2000. It has enabled us to update our Health & Safety Booklet, incorporating Local Rules under IRR99, which will be issued to all staff in early June.

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 24/05/2000

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