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The Steps to Professional Certification

This article is provided courtesy of Snell Infrared, a thermographic training company.

John Snell & Associates and other training organizations have always issued certificates to folks who complete their courses. For some, this "certification" was enough. Lately, however, many people want to certify they have done more than complete a training course. They want to certify that they are also fully qualified as thermographers.

Fortunately, the qualification and certification (Q&C) standards of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT), offer an excellent mechanism for this kind of assurance. To become qualified according to ASNT standards you must complete a simple 3-step process.

This first step is to acquire training. Snell courses, along with many others, fully meet the training requirements of ASNT. The second step is to gain experience. For a Level I thermographer that means up to 3 months of full time experience (or it's equivalent). For a Level II it is up to 18 months.

The third and final step of qualification is passing an exam, composed of both written and practical parts. To fully comply with the ANSI/ASNT standard CP-189, the exams must be developed and administered by a person who holds a Level III certificate from ASNT.

With these three elements of qualification in place a thermographer is certified by their employer. To establish a certification program the employer must develop a written practice--the "rules" for how the program works. As an ASNT Level III service provider JS&A has helped a number of companies of all sizes set up written practices and establish Q&C programs. The benefits are many-- dramatically improved and more consistent program results being the most prominent.

For some companies certification is also a means of complying with OSHA 1910 requirements. Also a Q&C program like this is essential for companies looking for ISO 9000 certification. All of the companies we've worked with to date have also accrued additional benefits from just taking a closer look at how their programs work.

While establishing a Q&C program is an investment, it is not difficult and can pay for itself in short order. How do you get started? Get together with your management, talk over the issues involved. Then give a company like JS&A a call. They can help you map out a time line to keep things moving along. In short order you and your company will be reaping the benefits of a well designed, meaningful Q&C program.

This article is provided courtesy of John Snell and Associates.

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