The NDT industry has established in -depth directives and requirements for official training in class, but a deficit in standardization of training requirements during employment (OJT) remains.
Donald BoothCEO of the American Institute of Nondestrucing Testing, explains.
Michelle: You have recently written an article for quality on current training for NDT. Could you summarize the article for our listeners?
Donald: Absolutely. The current training, of course, we know that NDT, or many of us know that NDT has a double structure for training. One is the official theoretical training in class. For example, ultrasounds are 40 hours for level one and 40 hours for level two. And then you progress in employment training. And on vocational training can arrive before official training in class. This is not the problem or the subject. The subject is once you have provided your 80 hours of training, for example, then you enter the field for 840 hours required on vocational training. It is therefore a major element of our training structure, right? The double training structure of NDT. What I have found over the years in the industry, after spending the past 12 years in the education sector, developing a study program, forming thousands and thousands, I think we are at 600,000 hours of training that we have provided is that there is no structure for the OJT, the ongoing training.
We have news outlines such as CP105, SNTTC1A, ISO, recommended different or practical standards that indicate how many hours and the CP105 news outline, you must speak, say again for ultrasound, the principles of acoustics or equipment the theory of calibration transducers. And these are listed there. And, and as trainers have a lot of clear advice that we have to provide for the theoretical, but no one has really tackled the OJT of what it implies. It works with a level two or a level three under their direct supervision. But is it just transported my equipment? Does he actively participate in inspections? So I think the industry must really remedy it.
Michelle: Yes. It seems that there are consequences. In the article, you have written that the absence of this standardization of the OJT compromises the ability of the industry to produce always qualified technicians. Can you talk about it a little more about it or what you have seen?
Donald: Over the years, I have spoken to so many of our customers. And we have somehow back here. We also carry the hat as a private career school, so we bring graduates and place them in careers. And people who hire our graduates like them, which is why we have such a high placement rate. But when I speak to our customers who occupy positions to hire people, they will hire someone from another business. Let's say that someone moves and that he enters, hey, I am level two in RT, ut, mt, pt. I want to come and work for you. Oh, great. You have already been certified by previous employees. And then they bring them, and they do not have a wide knowledge of technique, such as ultrasound or radiography.
It is therefore a problem that they must recycle this person supposed to be certified and formed. The said, hey certification, you should be a well -balanced technician. Now there are different verticals. The average, aerospace and pressure vessels are two different animals, right? We therefore do not expect someone to come from the aerospace sector and enter a pressure vessel sector and be completely competent. But there are universal skills that could be used. If the OJT has universal skills that will operate in all sectors, then if you bring someone tanks and enter aerospace, of course, you may have to add specific or vertical training, but that will reduce this. So, I think we really have to approach the way we record, how can we follow, how to train our mentors, right? I have met a lot of levels 3 which are excellent for creating certifications and quality procedures and programs, but they really do not know how to transfer theoretical knowledge to people. They simply do not have this skill. So, in a way to follow, in an ideal world, what do you think that employment training would look like?
I think it must be a bit like CP 105, which is a norm for the news outline of what a person needs to have been taught, right? So, what does my school teaches? We teach all these things in CP 105, so we know that we create a complete graduate. That being said, I would say that the OJT needs a certain type of structure. Ok, so it may be a CP 108, or I don't know, how you want to call it, but a document that the industry brings together that you can use. Thus, everyone follows the same model for everyone's universal components, you know, a UTRT, MTPT, each NDT method. As I said earlier, I don't expect someone to be a perfect inspector in all vertical sectors, but if we can build a better base, this will reduce recycling or additional training they have to add. We will simply create a more balanced person. Think that it is standardized monitoring, standardized methodology, better training for our mentors. Not everyone can be a coach. Some people just don't like that. During my career, I worked with level Twos that just carry my equipment. They didn't want to spend time with you. I enjoyed it.
And that's why I moved into the education industry.
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At Learnopoly, Finn has championed a mission to deliver unbiased, in-depth reviews of online courses that empower learners to make well-informed decisions. With over a decade of experience in financial services, he has honed his expertise in strategic partnerships and business development, cultivating both a sharp analytical perspective and a collaborative spirit. A lifelong learner, Finn’s commitment to creating a trusted guide for online education was ignited by a frustrating encounter with biased course reviews.