Can new guy use his Calibrated Tools?

[lego55]

We are a small machine shop of 14 people pursuing AS9100. All our tools and employee's tools are calibrated regularly. We just hired a new man with tools that have calibration stickers. The stickers state his name-#, gauge #, last cal date, size, and cal date due.

Do we need to get records from where he worked prior in order to let him use these tools? He's only been unemployed since August.

Or do we need to have him use our tools until our firm calibrates his tools? We usually wait a probation period before calibrating new employee tools.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

[Coury Ferguson]

My suggestion is that you calibrate them and put then into your Calibration System. Always better safe then sorry. Just my opinion.

[Jim Wynne]

In Reply to Parent Post by lego55

We are a small machine shop of 14 people pursuing AS9100. All our tools and employee's tools are calibrated regularly. We just hired a new man with tools that have calibration stickers. The stickers state his name-#, gauge #, last cal date, size, and cal date due.

Do we need to get records from where he worked prior in order to let him use these tools? He's only been unemployed since August.

Or do we need to have him use our tools until our firm calibrates his tools? We usually wait a probation period before calibrating new employee tools.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

It's not the stickers that are important; it's the records, and evidence that the things were properly calibrated. None of that means that as it stands today the devices are giving accurate results, however. I think the new guy's tools should be considered guilty until proven innocent.

[Wes Bucey]

In Reply to Parent Post by lego55

We are a small machine shop of 14 people pursuing AS9100. All our tools and employee's tools are calibrated regularly. We just hired a new man with tools that have calibration stickers. The stickers state his name-#, gauge #, last cal date, size, and cal date due.

Do we need to get records from where he worked prior in order to let him use these tools? He's only been unemployed since August.

Or do we need to have him use our tools until our firm calibrates his tools? We usually wait a probation period before calibrating new employee tools.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

Coury and Jim certainly advocate the safe (and correct) route. Does your organization have in-house standards to verify his instruments are in calibration? I consider verification less rigorous than calibration and it never includes adjusting or repairing an instrument to be within the tolerances for an instrument's class. If the instruments all verify as being within tolerance, it "might" be acceptable to include them for the same use under the same conditions you accept any instruments belonging to other employees which also have a chance of being out of calibration prior to the next scheduled examination and certification. (I have seen a simple one-inch micrometer go out of calibration when a newbie cranked it down like a shop vise instead of using the ratchet. There's a lot of mechanical advantage in a micrometer screw!)

[yodon]

All great replies so far (I hope I can continue the trend!). One other thing to consider is the future. Let's say you allow his tools to be used and he performs whatever actions with them for a while. He then decides to leave and take his toys (tools) with him. Then sometime later, you start getting feedback on issues that could be related to the tools he used. You no longer have the tools to see if they caused / contributed to the issues. You also won't have access to the updated calibration records to see if they were in calibration as received.

Just pointing out some potential risks. You have to decide if the benefits outweigh the risk.

[Golfman25]

I would probably put them in your calibration system and issue them as "new" tools with a new calibration sticker.

But my question is, who calibrates his tools? And if it is not the owner, does he know this. I find a lot of guys with their own tools are very possesive.

[Jim Wynne]

In Reply to Parent Post by Wes Bucey

Coury and Jim certainly advocate the safe (and correct) route. Does your organization have in-house standards to verify his instruments are in calibration? I consider verification less rigorous than calibration and it never includes adjusting or repairing an instrument to be within the tolerances for an instrument's class. If the instruments all verify as being within tolerance, it "might" be acceptable to include them for the same use under the same conditions you accept any instruments belonging to other employees which also have a chance of being out of calibration prior to the next scheduled examination and certification. (I have seen a simple one-inch micrometer go out of calibration when a newbie cranked it down like a shop vise instead of using the ratchet. There's a lot of mechanical advantage in a micrometer screw!)

What you're referring to as "verification" is calibration, which is the act of comparing a measurement device to a standard, and doesn't imply adjustment.
If the OP has a documented procedure for calibration, it should include a requirement for creating records, and if the new guy's tools are "verified," the record will have to be created. In other words, checking the guy's devices against standards is calibration, and "verifying" doesn't get him off the hook.

[BradM]

In Reply to Parent Post by lego55

We are a small machine shop of 14 people pursuing AS9100. All our tools and employee's tools are calibrated regularly. We just hired a new man with tools that have calibration stickers. The stickers state his name-#, gauge #, last cal date, size, and cal date due.

Do we need to get records from where he worked prior in order to let him use these tools? He's only been unemployed since August.

Or do we need to have him use our tools until our firm calibrates his tools? We usually wait a probation period before calibrating new employee tools.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

Hello, Lego

Thing is, while the new employee had the instruments calibrated, I think you would be taking a big assumption that they were verified by a party(ies) with the same level of service/quality as the current calibration source you use.

You would need to get the records from the new employee, and I might review them to assure they are defensible and in good shape, should you need them.

If you're good with the records, then you're done. If not, maybe you can perform some verification in-house to determine the tools are suitable and ready for use until you are ready for calibration.

There will be some uncertainty already present with the new employee, as they get acclimated to your processes and all. I wouldn't want to increase the uncertainty by not feeling confident in the measurement tools used.