THE APPLIED INSPECTION
NEWSLETTER

Issue No. 88 - December 2001

FROM THE EDITOR

Our web site, www.appliedinspection.co.uk, now receives over 1000 requests for pages each month. The figures from July to date are as follows:

July - 1426 (31 days)
August - 1726 (31 days)
September - 1687 (30 days)
October - 1460 (22 days - 1 to 22 October)

For those of you who have never seen our web site (Please excuse me if you are on-line now), there is the following information accessible at the click of a mouse from the home page: services, company profile, frequently asked questions (FAQs), maps to find each of our laboratories, customer satisfaction survey results, newsletters (from this one back to January 2000), and various photographs.

New this month is a 'rail safety briefing'. This information must be read and understood by all Applied Inspection staff holding personal track safety (PTS), individual alone (IWA), controller of site safety (COSS) or protection controller (PC) competence. It is designed to be interactive, that is the information must be read and notes made before moving on to the next section and comparing your notes with the correct solution. Go to our home page and click on 'Rail Safety Briefing'.

Quotation
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Hebrews 11:1

PERSONNEL

Welcome
To Michael Kirkman, Metallurgist, who started at Burton's new premises, Bond End, during October.

To Haig Buckley who started at Burton, Bridge House, during October.

To Ian Harrison and Graham Stapleton who started at Chesterfield during October.

Kim in Korea
Kim Sharp (Training Manager) has spent a total of four weeks carrying out inspection of train axles in South Korea. On his return, he coordinated the start of a six weeks NDT training programme at Burton, Bridge House. Leigh Clarke has now replaced Kim in South Korea.

Ten Pin Bowling at 'Burton Bowl'
The Ten Pin Bowling evening at Burton Bowl planned for Thursday 18 October was cancelled due to the heavy workload and training commitments of staff.

The National Lottery
Dawn Andrews at Holmewood and Keith Dashper at Cleckheaton run the Applied Inspection lottery syndicate. There are currently 33 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)
2000 - £270.00 (53 weeks)
January - June 2001 - £180.00 (26 Weeks)
July 2001 - £40.00 (4 weeks)
August 2001 - £10.00 (4 weeks)
1 September 2001 - £20.00
8 September 2001 - £0.00
15 September 2001 - £10.00
22 September 2001 - £0.00
29 September 2001 - £0.00
6 October 2001 - £20.00
13 October 2001 - £10.00
20 October 2001 - £0.00
Any errors in the above list will be corrected as soon as possible.

Joke of the Month
In Classified Ads under FOR SALE BY OWNER:
Complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica, 45 volumes. Excellent condition. £1000 or best offer. No longer needed. Got married last weekend. Wife knows bl**dy everything.

INTERNET

QUALITY & TRAINING

Standards and Specifications
There have been no changes this month notified by the BSI PLUS update system to the company's list of controlled documents.

BS EN ISO 9001: 2000
Internal Auditing
The requirements in clause 8.2.2 include two points worthy of note. The simple statement that, 'auditors shall not audit their own work' differs fro the 1994 standard, which states, '…quality audits shall be carried out by personnel independent of those having direct responsibility for the activity being audited,'

The second point is that internal auditors have an additional responsibility to ensure that the quality management system addresses the requirements of ISO 9001, forcing them to become more familiar with the standard.

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

1) B     2) A      3) D     4) C     

Here are some more questions, this time on Eddy-current Testing:

1. A test specimen used as a basis for calibrating test equipment or as a comparison when evaluating test results is referred to as a:

     A. Null-balancer.
     B. Phase shifter.
     C. Reference standard.
     D. High pass filter.

2. In an eddy current testing situation, which of the following can provide sources of noise?

     A. Instrumentation electronic circuits.
     B. Non-specific variations within the test object.
     C. Electrical interference.
     D. All of the above.

3. The ratio of the response or amplitude from signals of interest to the response or amplitude of indications that contain no useful information for the test being conducted is referred to as:

     A. Poisson's ratio.
     B. Signal-to-noise ratio.
     C. The conductivity-to-permeability ratio.
     D. The reactance-to-resistance ratio.

4. Which of the following is not a basic component of eddy current equipment?

     A. Amplifier.
     B. Coil.
     C. Liquid Couplant.
     D. Detector.

Quality at Applied Inspection
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 is our Training policy statement. We welcome comments and/or suggestions from staff in relation to any company policy statement. Please contact any director or e-mail us through the company web site.

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:

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

HEALTH & SAFETY

To All Applied Inspection Drivers
Driver fatigue during long journeys, especially motorway journeys, is a major factor in the occurrence of road traffic accidents. Company personnel are required to take regular breaks during journeys and get out of the vehicle to walk around, stretch and relax muscles and generally refresh themselves.

Using communication equipment, e.g. mobile phone, whilst driving is extremely dangerous. If you must use the equipment find a safe place to pull off the road and then use the equipment.
John Morris, QHS&E Manager

Radiation Safety
This is the final month in our series of comments, observations and advice made by Mr James Taylor, HM Principal Specialist Inspector - Radiation, at the British Institute of NDT Service Inspection Group meeting on 26 April 2001 relating to the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1999 (IRR99) and the Approved Code of Practice and Guidance. This month we cover 'seven day notification' and 'investigation levels'.

Seven Day Notification:
The seven days notification period will be enforced by HSE. However, this may be relaxed in the case of genuine emergency work, but not to cover bad planning. For notifications of less than seven days, the company should have the HSE acknowledgement, and if there are any changes to the work, e.g. location, time, cancellation etc., the HSE Inspector should be notified.

Investigation Levels:
Investigation levels for service inspection companies would normally be expected to be in the order of 5 or 6 mSv per year or the equivalent monthly dose. The employer, in consultation with the ADS can change the statutory dose records for doses of less than 20 mSv, where it can be shown that the actual dose is incorrect.

RIDDOR95 - One Stop Reporting
By law employers must report all work-related health and safety incidents that are listed in the Reporting of Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR95). If you are not sure what incidents you need to report, you can contact John Morris, QHS&E Manager or look at the RIDDOR web site - www.riddor.gov.uk.

One reportable dangerous occurrence is the failure of industrial radiography or irradiation equipment to de-energise or return to its safe position after the intended exposure period.

A new one stop incident reporting service has been set up by the Health & Safety Executive and Local Authorities to take details of all reportable work-related accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences. You can choose to report by Internet, e-mail, phone, fax or post. The new centre will mean that you will no longer need to be concerned about which office and which enforcing authority you should report to.

Accident reports can be e-mailed to riddor@natbrit.com; telephoned (between 8.30 and 17.00) to 0845 3009923; faxed to 0845 3009924 or posted to: Incident Contact Centre, Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly, CF83 3GG, South Wales.

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 23/10/2001

Back to Newsletters Index

Back to Applied Inspection Home Page