TesTex NDT, based in Killingholme, NE Lincolnshire is pleased to announce the opening, in early April, of a new office in the South West of the country. The new office and workshop facility is located in the Avonbank Industrial area of Bristol. The office will allow the company to service more easily and effectively its increasing customer base in the South West. “We are all incredibly excited about the new facility, as we haven’t just opened an office to house extra [...]
Written Schemes of Examination (WSE) are an important part of meeting the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations (PSSR) and the following industry best practise. The legislation is clear on this, equipment falling under PSSR means that “The user of an installed system and owner of a mobile system shall not operate the system, or allow it to be operated unless he has a written scheme for the periodic examination, by a competent person”- PSSR Reg 8.1. To ensure that you don’t fall [...]
Ignorantia Legis Neminem Excusat – “ignorance of law excuses no one”. Simply being unaware that a piece of equipment, or more commonly some constituent part(s) fall into the scope of a Regulation does not mean that you can escape liability in the event of a failure. The Pressure Systems Safety Regulations (PSSR’s) which were put into law over 20 years ago, is a Regulation which you most likely know a bit about. There will be systems and equipment obvious to you which are covered such as; boilers and steam [...]
Many people are exposed to a variety of substances at work (e.g chemicals, fumes, dusts, fibres) which can, under some circumstances, have a harmful effect on their health. These are classed as ‘hazardous substances’. If exposure to a hazardous substance is not properly controlled it may cause ill health in a number of ways. In January 2020, the Health and Safety Executive approved new and revised workplace exposure limits (WELs). Details of the changes came into force on 17 January [...]
Over the last 30 years we’ve continued to develop our technology, techniques and training to the highest standards, meeting and exceeding customer expectations. An ethos which, since introducing our Asset Integrity Management Service led us to identify the need for a an easier to use, more innovative Asset Integrity Management system. We wanted something with all the functionality customers would expect, but not as complex as other systems currently on the market. After consultation with customers, Integrity Managers and in [...]
Thank you to all those who attended our most recent Engineers Breakfast Meeting and to everyone who has expressed interest in future events. For those of you who missed it but would like to know what was covered, here’s a quick summary… The Importance of Inspections from a Cat 1 perspective Nick Girdham, experienced Cat 1 Inspector presented on the subject covering, The importance of Written Scheme of Examinations (WSE’s) Imminent dangers and how to accurately assess How to achieve time savings and acceptable [...]
It’s National Apprentice Week 2020 a chance to celebrate the positive impact of apprenticeships across the UK. Here at TesTex we have a lot to celebrate and to be proud of. Investment in technology and training are a core part of our business and are essential to us delivering on our reputation for high quality NDT and Inspection services. As a company we’ve found that apprenticeships have mutual benefits and are keen to continue recruiting, supporting and training new apprentices. Benefits to [...]
As a SHEQ Coordinator, it’s vital to keep abreast of corporate, regulatory and legislative changes including, general updates related to Health & Safety, Environmental and Quality issues. This blog piece looks at some of the recent changes you might need to consider as we begin the new year. Safety Working at Height Falls from height continue to be the biggest overall cause of death in the workplace. The latest HSE statistics for 2018/19 reveal 40 deaths from such accidents. This means it remains as [...]
At TesTex we hold quarterly Engineers Breakfast Meetings where we meet with local engineers to discuss issues they may be facing and work together towards solutions to this. One of the recent subjects was ‘Managing Pipework Integrity’. As part of this heading there was further debate into how to protect buried pipework and the methods currently available for this one of which is looking at the options for field applied external coating. About Field Applied External Coating The Majority of [...]
Catastrophic Rupture of Dead-Leg Pipework The HSE have circulated a document warning Process Plant Operators of the increased risks of primary containment loss associated with dead-legs that are present in process pipe-work systems. Background “A recent failure on a UK refinery involved an 8” diameter vertical relief line, approximately 5m in length, which catastrophically failed during normal operation part way along its length, releasing approximately 75 tonnes of extremely flammable material at elevated temperature and pressure. Connected to an insulated process header [...]
