Exam for Personnel performing Calibration

E

Eloy Gomez

Hello: Does any one has an in-house exam given to personnel that perform calibration to determine competence? If you do not mind sharing I will appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
 
D

db

My initial response is that a test does not measure competence (other than the competence of test taking). I used to teach a class for technicians on how to take tests. Competence should be demonstrated. In the military, they used to do testing by two parts (I don't know if they still do). One part was written and the other was a skills test, where they actually had to perform.

Now, with that said, I am not an expert in 17025, so I don't know if they require a test, but I would think you would want more of a hands-on type test to make sure your personnel know exactly how to perform the calibrations. :2cents:
 
E

Eloy Gomez

We do a lot of OJT but an auditor came in about a month ago and asked us how we could demonstrate that our internal calibration tech was certified to perform calibration? Maybe we should document this OJT.
 
G

Gmzita

Eloy -
Our technician's go through OJT as well for calibration work. When they are ready to be approved for a specific Calibration Method, the supervisor submits a sample of work they performed and a written statement from another technician who has worked with them on the cal method to QA. If it is satisfactory, it is forwarded by QA to the Technical Manager who has the final approval.

If he approvals the technician, the Technical Manager initials & dates the Calibration Method on the Proficiency Document which is maintained as evidence of competency for the individual technician. There is also a section to cover use of equipment, such as Load Cells, Temperature Monitoring, Volt Meters, etc. If applicable to the approved method, that section is also initialed and dated.

It makes a nice tidy packet to show as objective evidence for training.;)
 

BradM

Leader
Admin
What you could do is take about 4-8 of the typical instruments that would be calibrated. Have a senior technician calibrate the instruments first and documenting their results. I might introduce error to a few of them to show them out of tolerance. NOTE: This is for training/evaluation only; and would not be introduced to production.

Then compare the results.

The easiest way to see if they know what they are doing is watch them perform the task and ask questions about what they're doing. Someone who knows what they are doing should be able to assess an individuals ability to calibrate an instrument.
 

Hershal

Metrologist-Auditor
Trusted Information Resource
Ajit is exactly correct. I know quite a few places that have their internal cal tech(s) get CCT. It is not a complete demonstration of competence, but is a good indicator of knowledge.

Then add a practical test, including calculating uncertainties.
 
D

dv8shane

Hello Eloy,

As an example for qualifying to calibrate a multimeter I have the technician perform a minimum of 19/20 (target 95% or better conforming) correct calibrations in a row on a shop meter that has all the whistles and bells.
The training includes reviewing the instruction recording all the data completing the certificate and decal. If during the review of the testing more than 1 error of any kind are discovered the testing must be started from the beginning. All is recorded on a training record.

Shane

PS It took my son over 50 calibrations before he passed my testing with 20 in a row correct, but it paid off with little to no mistakes at work, and now he can calibrate almost any Fluke hand held meter manually in less than 15 minutes including completing all the paperwork.
 
Top Bottom