Non-Destructive Testing fraud safety alert

Non-Destructive Testing is used to check for defects in plant, e.g. pressure equipment, that may have been introduced by the manufacturing process or deterioration caused by the operation of the plant.

The HSE has issued a safety alert following the discovery of a fraud involving the issue of Personnel Certification in Non-Destructive Testing (PCN) to people carrying out this work.

Clearly where such certificates have been obtained fraudulently it is not possible to have confidence in the competency of the technicians involved. This has led to the authorities requiring over 3000 technicians to submit to re-examination if they wished to reacquire their PCN certification

While this fraud primarily relates to Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) technicians operating in India and the Middle East it is not impossible that equipment manufactured and tested in these regions could have been imported and installed on UK sites. Also the in-service examination and NDT of existing equipment on UK sites could have been completed by technicians who had been fraudulently certified.

The HSE is advising duty holders to assure themselves that the integrity of equipment they own or operate is not adversely affected by the fraud. Full details of the safety alert and the recommended actions can be found on the HSE’s website at: https://www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulletins/pcn-scheme-fraud.htm