By Howard K. Jones Feature How to Deal with the Unexpected A long-time CWI offers some experienced-based advice to help you deal with those situations that occur on the job that you never expected to face As an inspector, you need to be able to think on your feet. You can find yourself in some unexpected situations. For instance, you could start your inspection career at an outage. Outages are fast paced, and the companies involved have a lot at stake. Outages can be difficult even for seasoned inspectors, let alone someone fresh from taking the CWI test. We’ll start with some general advice and then move on to four specific situations you do not expect to encounter, but very well might. Preparing for the Job During an outage, you may be working 12-h days, 7 days a week. This can get tedious, so you need to stay focused. In addition, you will be covering a lot of ground. If you’re the quality control (QC) person on the night shift, you may be working by yourself, and even if you’re on the day shift, most likely it will be just you and the site QC manager. Here are some tips that may help you to be prepared. • Keep the welders’ names and their stencils with you. • Keep a copy of the scope of work for the job on your desk because the customer may have added some additional inspection requirements. • Make sure you have the quality control plan for the outage, as well as a copy of the quality control manual and the Welding Procedure Specifications (WPSs). • Keep a memo book with you at all 18 Inspection Trends / October 2011 times. In your memo book, list all the base metals, wall thicknesses, pipe outside and inside diameter measurements, preheat temperatures, filler metals, and the WPS identification numbers for each process by system. • Know what code each system is in that you will be inspecting. Keep a copy of those codes on your desk, and review the visual inspection requirements each time you get back to your desk. But, remember, if you are staying on top of everything like you should, you won’t have time to be in the office because you need to be in the field — and vice versa. So be prepared, because that’s the way it is for the inspector during an outage. Maintain Good Relationships with Other Workers • It is advisable to include the safety person in your work. Regularly invite that person to make your rounds with you. He or she will almost always be happy to team up with you and join you on your rounds. • Be fair, honest, and act in a professional manner with everyone on the job site. • Maintain your integrity, and guard your language for your own respect and that of the company you represent. Doing this will increase your chances that the customer will want you back later on for another quality-minded, professional job, not to mention you will earn the respect of the people you work with. • When you do reject a craftsperson’s work, treat that person with respect. Give the person a measurement, show him or her what was wrong, and state what the code requires and what it will take to make it right. Don’t just say, “Fix it, it’s wrong.” Scenario 1: Dealing with a Welder Who Has Failed a Test Here’s one of those situations you never thought about when you were taking your CWI test: After testing welders all day long, you finally get back to your hotel only to find yourself face to face with four angry welders whom you have failed that day, and a mad hotel manager who is losing four paying customers. Here are some tips about what you can do at the job site to help you prevent “the angry welder” situation. • Introduce yourself to all the welders with a smile and a hand shake. • Look the welders in the eye when you talk to them. • Treat welders with respect. • Print out and post all visual inspection requirements for the test, the test shop rules, and the required hold points. Go over these with the welders being tested, and ask them if they have any questions prior to the start of the test. • Identify the welders by checking their identification. Record all information, as well as list all the required documents, immediately on
Inspection Trends - October 2011 - Fall
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