Pen et Rant – NDT’s first agony aunt
by Bernard McGrath, Inspection Validation Centre

Dear Pen,
I feel at my wits’ end and I don’t know who else to turn to. I have been in my profession for a long time now but I don’t know if I should stay with it. I know I haven’t been the most attentive of professionals: at times I have not even claimed to belong to it in case I am classed as too much of a specialist. And it takes a long time to explain what it is! I even left it for a few years before coming back when I realised I was a good match with it. But now it is driving me to frustration.

These feelings have been building for some time and I don’t know if I can take any more. Over the last few months there have been incidents which have made me realise that outside of the profession it is not even considered a profession! Few people recognise members of the profession as experts. When advice is asked for, and given, it is always questioned. Are you sure? Can you not do this or that? How about using dye penetrant? Mechanical engineering or metallurgical advice always trumps NDT. When committees are convened to address integrity issues, then representatives on welding, materials, design and quality are invited: NDT is conspicuous by its absence.

What is the matter with my profession? What can be done to change the situation?

Inspector H

Dear H,
I’m sorry to say so, but the easiest solution would be to change profession. The one you chose, or may be the one that chose you, has two big drawbacks. The first is that the service it provides is on a par with that of traffic wardens. Nobody likes it when the profession proves its worth. Well, to be honest, they actually hate it! So much so, that they bury the information behind ‘commercial interest’. The only body which might be happy, the regulator, is not allowed to show it publicly, in the interest of impartiality. And those who should be grateful – the people who travel in the planes that don’t crash, that work next to pressure systems that don’t fail, who don’t have to evacuate their homes because that toxic cloud or radioactivity is not released – don’t realise they have anything to be grateful for because nothing happens.

The second drawback is that your profession is about looking for things. And everyone knows how to look for things, don’t they? Even men, whose wives or mothers tell them they are useless at finding things, think there is nothing to it. Well, you just look don’t you and it is either there or it’s not. If you can’t see it then you apply an NDT technique and voilà! It is visible. Throw on some dye, take a radiograph, put on an ultrasonic or eddy current probe and there is the defect or the signal from the defect! It is not rocket science. Well that is the perception of other professions which have actually heard of NDT.

From your cry for help, I suspect that you still want to persevere with this masochistic profession. Then you need to take action. But you can’t do it alone. It has to be done by a representative body. That body needs to change the prevailing perception that as long as a Level 2 operator performs the inspection then all responsibility is discharged. It should continuously publicise the need for ongoing training, development and recognition of operators. It should actively promote the value of, and need for, Level 3 input. It should define where incorporated and chartered engineers fit in. Where are they a requirement? What roles require such qualifications? Or are they just qualifications for the sake of a qualification, a supernumerary, some income generation (negative for the individual) and a possible sense of personal achievement for the effort?

The body needs to police NDT more rigorously, specifying what is considered good practice, highlighting successes and taking action on malpractice. It should be making statements and comments on safety to the media so that it is publicly recognised as an authority body. Other professions, doctors, lawyers, dentists and even personnel, do it. Why not NDT?

So H, this is the only way the status of NDT will improve: attract youngsters to join and survive as a profession. There was a questionnaire conducted by BINDT at the beginning of the year – maybe the results of that will stimulate improvements! If all else fails, you could re-join the Quality Practitioners – people know even less about them than NDT, so you still might not be held in high regard, but at least you will not be treated with disdain!

Pen et Rant

Please note that the views expressed in this column are the author’s own personal ramblings for the purpose of encouraging discussion within the NDT Newspaper. They do not represent the views of the IVC, Serco Assurance or the HSE who funded the PANI projects.

Letters can be mailed to The Editor, NDT News, Newton Building, St George’s Avenue, Northampton NN2 6JB. Fax: 01604 89 3861; Email: ndtnews@bindt.org or email Bernard McGrath direct at Bernard.McGrath@sercoassurance.com