A New Tool for Managing Certifications

QA/QC

By Jeffrey Lerch, QA/QC Manager

Cianbro Corporation’s core quality program complies with ISO 9001, which is the standard for the codification of sound principles that help promote an effective quality management system and help provide uniformity and consistency across industries.

One component within this program is the expectation that organizations ensure qualified personnel are in place to complete necessary tasks. In addition, there is a litany of certifications within the construction industry, often required by a governing code, standard, or jurisdictional source.

These certifications can be as apparent as operating a crane to as obscure as training and testing individuals for hand excavation adjacent to existing buried gas piping.

Managing these certifications for an organization of our size and across such a broad scope of industries in which we operate can be challenging. Until recently, there has not been an effective way to get this information into the hands of those directly overseeing the work. In most instances, it has fallen on our human resources team members, quality control personnel, and operational leaders to ensure appropriately qualified personnel are available when needed. While this will always be the cornerstone of getting the right team members in the right place at the right time, there is a new program that can help with the effort.

The F.A.C.T.S. app, an acronym for Field Application for Certifications, Training and Safety, is an innovative tool that allows frontline supervisors, or any interested party, to quickly check and verify our training and certification level team members.

After a few clicks, you will reach the option of either scanning a tag on the team member’s hardhat or entering their team member ID. Either method quickly produces access to the team member’s records of qualifications, licenses, and certifications. In addition to verifying the qualification of an individual, this app also provides the status of certifications, whether current or expired.

Welding is one of the more critical construction activities at Cianbro. The ramifications of even a single weld failure could be catastrophic, have long-lasting effects on our reputation and potentially injure those relying on the integrity of the weldment. To prevent failures, Cianbro implements welding in accordance with appropriate industry welding requirements, as specified by Welding Codes such as the American Welding Society, Structural Welding Code (AWS D1.1), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Welding Code for Boilers and Pressure Vessels (ASME Section IX), or others. All welding codes require a qualified welding procedure specification (WPS) and that welding be performed by qualified welders. Welders must follow the written WPS as qualified by their performance testing. Depending on specific variables established by testing, a welder establishes limits that must be adhered to in production. Variables such as pipe diameter, material thickness, joint details, etc., are established by performance testing. Those test results, and the allowable range a welder may vary from the actual test are recorded, and become the basis of qualification for the welder. While we have robust tools for tracking all the detailed information and variables related to welding qualification, the F.A.C.T.S. app can act as a bridge between these programs and supervisory personnel.

The F.A.C.T.S. app is yet another demonstration of Cianbro’s commitment and ability to continuously improve our manner of performing business.