I welcome this opportunity to give an overview of the Certification for Weldment Inspection Personnel (CSWIP) scheme in the area of Subsea Inspection Certification, which is the seventh phase of examination categories, brought in by CSWIP Unlike its forebears, which relate to particular inspection techniques, i e Phase 1 Ultrasonics or Phase 2 Radiography, Phase 7 dealt with the perceived need of the Offshore Industry in 1979 to negotiate the complete package of techniques/systems In general use for subsea inspection
As CSWIP had been preparing examinations and administering them since 1969, it is reasonable to claim that the management board and the industry working parties responsible for bringing the exams on stream had developed considerable expertise and, through consensus agreement, a quality system related to current standards and practice of the day should be the dominating principle for all phases
At the same time, John Young, a man imbued with high ideals about achieving excellence, was appointed to be the Secretary He was also responsible for producing the documentation that the scheme would require, and his skills produced a mould into which the outpourings of the Working Parties, who were setting the technical requirements, were injected This disciplined approach to having a commonality documentation has allowed industry's needs in new areas of certification to be introduced quickly and in familiar format
It became a matter of routine for the Secretariat, when new techniques/areas for certification were required, to put together a broadly based working party of experts to specify the technical requirements, i e experience, mandatory training, types of specimen and numbers Each new examination is proved by a trial examination where participants in the working party put up candidates with different levels of skills and experience, so that the chief examiner, Monty Frost, who is unaware of the calibre of the candidates, has an opportunity to assess the efficacy of the marking system and the practicability of the exam
In this overall look at the CSWIP system it is important for you to know that the management board provides a channel for feedback on problems, introducing new techniques or technology, compliance with new standards, calls for update of specification, and from time to time picking up market-place needs for new certification areas
In 1979 the Secretary of CSWIP called a meeting of interested parties from owners, certifying authorities, Government and industry to test the requirement for a full underwater examination The result was a mandate for ‘Diving CSWIP’
The CSWIP is a flexible scheme and has always reacted quickly to this demand, so that when offshore platforms had been in service for a period, a BSC requirement for plate testers (ultrasonic thickness measurement of wall thickness and MPI of crack specimens) was ‘translated’ into a ‘dry CSWIP qualification’ for early diver inspectors as an interim measure.
