Training Plan for a Technician Transitioning from Radiography to UT
A technician with five years of radiography experience is being transitioned to UT. The employer's written practice requires a minimum of 40 hours of training and a practical examination before certification at Level II. The technician has completed 16 hours of classroom training and has been performing UT scans under supervision for three weeks. The Level III must decide whether the technician can be certified, what additional training is needed, and how to document it. The employer's written practice also requires a record of the training content and the instructor's qualifications.
1. Is the technician eligible for Level II certification now? What is missing?
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Not yet. The written practice requires 40 hours of training; the technician has 16. The remaining 24 hours must be documented, and the content must cover the UT-specific topics the technician lacks, since radiography experience does not substitute for UT training.
The practical examination has not been documented. The three weeks of supervised scanning is experience, not a practical examination, and it does not satisfy the examination requirement.
Eligibility requires: completed training hours, documented training content, qualified instructor, and a passed practical examination.
2. What should the additional training cover, and how should it be documented?
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The additional training should cover the UT topics the technician has not had: wave propagation, transducer selection, calibration, DAC/TCG, sizing methods, and interpretation of echo dynamics. The radiography background helps with defect morphology but not with UT physics or equipment.
Documentation should record: date, hours, topic, instructor name and qualifications, and a signature from the instructor and the technician. The record must be retained per the written practice and be available for audit.
3. What is the Level III's role in signing off the certification?
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The Level III must verify that all requirements are met before signing: training hours and content, instructor qualifications, practical examination results, and any experience requirements. The sign-off should reference the specific written practice clauses and the records that support them.
If any requirement is incomplete, the Level III should not sign. Signing off on incomplete records would create a qualification nonconformance and undermine the integrity of the certification.