SGS Seminars Describe Different NDT Certification

SGS recently organised two seminars on personnel certification in the field of non-destructive testing (NDT). Held in the City of Manila, Philippines on 16 March 2010; and in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on 18 March 2010, the seminars were designed to introduce different certification systems. NDT is essential to many industries, including control of welding quality, industrial parts and safety assurance of pressure vessels and pipelines. However, the competence of those carrying out NDT is a vital pre-requisite.

Only qualified personnel can perform a satisfactory inspection, interpret the test results and make critical judgments. Correct certification presents objective evidence of the knowledge and skill level of the person conducting an inspection and therefore confirms whether or not he is qualified. Many certificates are misinterpreted, which leads to people inspecting welds and other products without being suitably qualified.

Seminar attendees were given the chance to take an in-depth look into the world of certification of personnel working in the NDT business. The participants were encouraged to take an active part in the discussions about the advantages and disadvantages of both in-house certification and centrally managed certification schemes such as the well known PCN-certification scheme. Topics included the specific information that should be included on a certificate and what it means to be qualified. The need for high quality, pre-examination training has been emphasised.

Statistics have proven that, when taking examinations directly without attending the pre-examination accredited training, the percentage pass rate is dramatically reduced and many candidates are likely to be unsuccessful. Finally, to end the seminar, individual questions were clarified. Attendees can from now on be more critical about the certificates they review and be better at specifying the required personnel. The seminar was given by Jason Scott, director of the SGS Training and Certification School in China.