NDT Ethics: What to Do about Unqualified Outside Agencies

Editor’s note: This NDT Ethics case study is published in conjunction with the June 2023 issue of Materials Evaluation. Published quarterly, each NDT Ethics column presents a case study and invites readers to respond here on ASNT Pulse with their comments. Readers are also invited to email column editor Toni Bailey with their own ethical scenarios, which may be featured in future columns.

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by Antionette (Toni) Bailey

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Welcome to our quarterly column on ethics in nondestructive testing (NDT). This month, we will discuss ethical scenarios regarding underqualified outside agency services and the effects that incorrect credentials and services can have on NDT.

I recall a time in my career when I was 27 years old and a new NDT inspection company business owner. I had obtained my ASNT NDT and NAS 410 Level III certifications in magnetic particle testing (MT) and was a certified NAS 410 Level II in four other NDT methods. To obtain Level III coverage in the other four methods, I hired what is commonly referred to as an “outside agency” to provide Responsible Level III services for our company’s training, qualification, certification, and auditing needs. The company that I hired, Level 3 Resources, not only did all the right things but the agency’s ASNT NDT/NAS 410 Level III, Edward Dukich, also helped me obtain many of my ASNT and NAS 410 Level III certifications. Ed became my mentor and helped me to become a solid NDT business owner.

However, although my personal experience was positive, not all outside agencies provide correct services. Some do not do the right thing intentionally, and some unintentionally. Let’s take a look at a couple scenarios in which the reader can determine if the behavior is ethical, unethical, intentional, or unintentional.

—Toni Bailey, NDT Ethics Editor

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Scenario 1: Converting ISO 9712 to Other Certification Schemes

A company in Europe was performing NDT inspections for products that they manufactured. No one required them to be qualified or certified per any certification scheme. The company later obtained a contract that required the company’s NDT personnel to be NAS 410 certified in each method, so the company hired a local outside agency to help them obtain their NAS 410 certifications. The outside agency was ISO 9712 certified and deemed their certification process to be “better than and far exceeding” the NAS 410 certification scheme.

This attitude of superiority caused the outside agency to misinterpret NAS 410, not realizing that NAS 410 has more strict requirements than ISO 9712 for documenting experience and examinations (such as vision, general, specific, and practical). As well, the qualifications of the examiner or outside agency must meet NAS 410. As a matter of fact, NAS 410 is equivalent to EN 4179, and the two are interchangeable. However, ISO 9712 is not equivalent to NAS 410 or EN 4179. ISO 9712 is a completely different qualification and certification program.

Even though the contract provider specifically told the outside agency that they were not qualified, certified, nor eligible as NAS 410 examiners, the outside agency provided the Responsible Level III and all outside agency services anyway. When the company was audited by the contract provider, the company learned that all their procedures, qualifications, and certification records for Levels I, II, and III were invalid, and the company had to hire a new NAS 410 outside agency and start the process all over again. The original outside agency did not offer any money back or an apology for their misrepresentation.

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Scenario 2: Impacts on Clients from Untrained Level III Services

An NDT inspection company held certification credentials per SNT-TC-1A and decided they would like to provide outside agency services for classroom training, examiner, and Responsible Level III. The newly formed outside agency company established their written practice, qualifications, and certifications to comply with SNT-TC-1A and NAS 410. Unfortunately, no one at the outside agency had ever been trained to provide outside agency services, and no one had experience providing these types of services.

The newly formed outside agency obtained a contract for a large company with several locations and divisions. The outside agency was thrilled to help the large company. The large company needed a completely new NDT program from scratch including NDT procedures, classroom training, prior experience documentation, and qualification examinations and certifications. The large company had previously only met military requirements, so it had no idea whether they needed to meet SNT-TC-1A or NAS 410. However, in the fine print of the company’s contracts, NAS 410 was required, which made meeting the requirements much more difficult.

The new outside agency was very eager and tried to do the right thing as much as possible, but unfortunately due to their lack of training and experience, they incorrectly mixed up SNT-TC-1A and NAS 410. All the services that they provided became convoluted, inaccurate, and caused audit failures. The audit failures caused a breakdown of trust between the outside agency and the large company, and effectively the client dropped the outside agency. The reputation of the agency declined and it went out of business. Unfortunately, when the outside agency broke up, the large company could not get their qualification records back. So, the large company had to start the process all over again with another outside agency who had the experience to fix all problems and gaps.

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Share Your Thoughts

We now ask you, the reader, to think about these two scenarios.

• Is there a need to educate outside agencies on their ethical obligations to clients?
• Are outside agencies knowingly choosing financial gains over their ethical obligations to themselves and clients?
• Or does the fault lie with the hiring company?
• Which actions are ethical, unethical, intentional, or unintentional?

We would like to hear from the NDT community. Please comment below.

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Editor

Antionette (Toni) Bailey, ASNT NDT Level III, NAS 410 Level III, TB3 NDT Consulting LLC; toni@tb3ndt.com.