Association News - EWPA

EWPA NEWS

the association has had a busy time since we last updated you in the December Magazine

A quick overview and then a focus on a couple of important points...

„ AGM held at the end of March.

Was supposed to be at the EWP

Trade Day in February but this was postponed to May, so was held over Zoom again. „ AS/NZS1418:10 Review. „ CBIP EWP Inspector Competency

Certificate renewals and a differing of opinion of what should be a prerequisite for an Inspector. „ Development and updating of

Registered Inspector Programme. „ EWP Trade Day - There’s a great story about the day in this issue.

aS/nZS1418:10 rEvIEw

This is the standard that EWPs should be built to for use in this country. Standards NZ had not budgeted for the review that is due in 2021 and were going to drop NZ from the joint standard. This would then potentially expose our industry to machines that weren’t made to a good quality. The Association made the pragmatic decision to assist in the funding of the NZ portion of the review. We see the need to give protection to NZ Safety Standards and keep inferior equipment from coming to NZ. If not this raises the risk of machine failures and potential injury to people using or being around them. As an industry, we can be proud of the small number of incidents of EWP failure because of the high standards we have been able to maintain. The review is about to start, and the Association has asked Brendan Walker of Access Specialties Ltd to be our nominated member on the review committee. Brendan has a wealth of knowledge around the standard and will work well as our Association voice on the committee. If you wish to have a say on the standard, put it on paper and send it to ceo@ewpa.org.nz. We will collate all submissions and table what we can. As the review continues, we will be going to our members with updates and will be looking for feedback. Once the review is finished, there will be a public submission period, changes if needed and then ratifying. It’s not an overnight process and we thank Brendan in advance for his support to the NZ Industry by taking on this challenge.

cBIP

In each magazine, I have written something on CBIP and the Competency Certificates they issue for EWP Inspectors. CBIP for those unknown to it, stands for Certifying Board of Inspection Professionals. They have been given the task from Worksafe of assessing and certifying Inspectors, of among other technical things, EWP’s. The relationship between EWPA and CBIP has ebbed and flowed over the years.. It is fair to say, it was quite low this time last year and it had probably got there from frustration and a lack of/bad communication from both sides. The issues arise from a new prerequisite of EWP Inspectors (both renewal and new applicants) to hold a qualification of AS2214 Welding Supervisor. Quite an onerous qualification that requires a lot of experience at welding to achieve. Though in theory, the prerequisite is a good idea, in practice it is far from the truth. Nearly all EWP Inspectors are a Heavy Diesel Technician, an Auto Electrician, or a Hydraulics Engineer. Their qualifications are focussed on their trade background and they typically have high experience in the other trades mentioned. This is what leads them into the EWP field to become an inspector/maintainer of EWP’s. I think of some of our best rebuild companies and the expertise they have in the business around these disciplines. When it comes to weld appreciation, if you are working around machinery, namely EWP’s, you build a good understanding of the quality of welding and the processes around it. You may not hold a formal qualification, but your experience and trade background teaches you a lot about welds. As part of a 6 monthly safety inspection, the requirement is to visually inspect all visible welds for any change in state, deterioration, cracking and or corrosion. The EWPA recommends any suspect weld on a machine requires the machine to be locked out of service. The weld should then be inspected by a third-party non-destructive testing provider with any remedial findings being carried out to the EWP Manufacturer’s instructions by a qualified and certified welder. In the case of major inspection and rebuilds. Fully dismantle the machine for thorough inspection and Non Destructive Testing (NDT), with confirmation of any crack or damage repairs completed to manufacturers standard, or engineers standard if manufacturer not available (ie: out of

business). Follow up NDT post repair to ensure solution integrity. In the view of the EWPA, it doesn’t get any better or safer than this and the use of a third party for testing and remedial work puts the task in the hands of highly competent and qualified people. So, we continue our discussions with CBIP in finding an agreed position in regard to EWP Inspectors. We agree in principle to some sort of measured knowledge regime on welding for inspectors but not to the level that is currently prescribed. More on this matter next time…

rEgIStErEd InSPEctor ProgrammE

Following on from the above topic, the EWPA is redeveloping its Registered Inspector Programme and putting some emphasis on getting it seen as a high quality, measured and audit inspector programme that could run in parallel with the CBIP certification of competency. We see this as the industry taking control of its own. There’s a bit of work to do on this and more details will come in the next few months. All the work is on developing stringent auditing and moderating processes of inspectors to ensure they are fully competent to carry out and sign off an inspection of an EWP. As time rolls on and we have the system running and improving from use, we will seek to get accreditation of the programme from International standards bodies.

nExt SIx monthS

By now you are aware from other articles and communications that HIANZ is seeking to employ (if not already) another staff member. The EWPA is fully supportive of this move and it fits with the growth plans we have as an Association with our Registered Inspector Programme. This person will hopefully be spending quite a bit of time on EWPA business to help the Association get their programme up and running and measuring/accrediting inspectors. We look forward to having this person on board. ■

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