Q & A with SAINT President Keith Cain
Full Name
Keith Crichton Cain
Position
Owner of:
- Chimaera Inspection Services (NDT Service Provider and Level 3 Advisory)
- Kuzizwa Centre (NDT Experiential Learning)
Current President of SAINT
- What sparked your interest in NDT?
See Paragraph 2 below.
- How did you begin your career in NDT?
While serving in the Air Force, our Officer Commanding informed my colleagues and I that our Armament section was going to be de-commissioned. We were given a choice: transfer to the Army, to AFB Louis Trichardt or to the units’ NDT section. I chose the NDT section by default as I did not want to leave Pretoria and that we were also told that the chances were greater in finding NDT employment outside of the SAAF.
- Person who has the biggest influence on your life?
Our Creator and my wife, Annatjie.
- Person who has the biggest influence on your NDT career?
There have been those who I have regarded as my mentors and are now deceased: Graham Goodman, Lew Wells, Eric Guest and George Murray. There have been others in the past and many at present, young and not so young who are still influencing my career – technicians, Saint council members, Level 3’s, equipment/consumable suppliers, training school staff and my sons to name a few.
- What are your current qualifications?
ET, RT, MT, PT L2
UT L1
ASNT L3 MT & PT
ACCP L3 MT & PT
- Which method do you enjoy most and why?
Magnetic Particle: I have the most experience hours in MT! This method seems pretty straight forward and simple to apply at first, but there is always some sort of Achilles heel. Material permeability and the ensuring of sufficient field strength can prove to be quite challenging at times. ET is also very enjoyable and I wish that I could of have gained a lot more experience with it.
- What industries or sectors have you been involved in?
Varying degrees of Pre & In-service (welds, castings and forgings): Aviation, Power Generation, Petrochemical, Rail, Civil Construction, Mining, Packaging, Food and Beverage, Telecommunications, Automobile, Formwork, Lifting Equipment, Material Handling, HVAC and Transport.
- What major projects have you been involved in?
Sasol Wax, Sasolburg
Project Jaldi, SAB Rosslyn
Komati Power Station (RTS)
New Control Tower, Lanseria Airport
Furnace Rebuilds, Lonmin Platinum
4 x SASOL Shutdowns
- What are your biggest challenges in NDT?
One challenge is not knowing everything there is to know in NDT and allocating sufficient time for research and experimentation.
Another is convincing potential customers of the real value that proper NDT can bring to the party.
One more, is having to refrain from physically ‘correcting’ a person who thinks he has done a good NDT job when it is clearly evident that he had no idea of what he was doing or, shows no passion and respect towards NDT. Technicians who don’t read prescribed procedures, inspection speed freaks………
- Most humorous NDT incident that you can remember
Before I even started my career in NDT, as an armourer we had to checks hundreds of pistol slides for cracks. After we were shown how to use a MPI bench, a colleague adjusted the coil shot duration in order to enable us to inspect the slides in a shorter time (by shortening the duty cycle). Soon the cable-to-coil connector fastener started to glow bright red which then subsequently became fused to the bolt. The regular NDT guys weren’t impressed at all.
Another time we were asked to perform ET on a helicopter oil cooler turbine shaft while it was still attached to the ‘chopper. One of the flight engineers asked us to be exercise caution as we had apparently magnetised the entire aircraft during a previous visit.
- What legacy would you like to leave in the industry?
I would like to be recognised as one of the individuals who contributed towards the successful implementation and acceptance of the SAINT Professional Body with the ensuing Professional Designation of a NDT technician becoming the mandatory if not statutory requirement for all levels of NDT personnel in South Africa.
Hope for the future
It is my hope that NDT becomes widely known and utilised properly in South Africa as well as internationally. Poor quality of NDT workmanship and ethics must be eradicated with due credit being given to those who are producing first class results.
All end users need to cease their acceptance of sub-standard work just for economic reasons or choosing to use the cheapest sub-contractor without the verification of their credentials.
Our technicians, including their employers need to become prouder of what they do, to cultivate our unique values and principles that can be handed down to the next generation.
Remaining within the industry to witness the full registration of a SA NDT ‘Trade’ would be awesome too.
- A must-visit NDT website that you recommend?
saint,org.za
ndt.net
techstreet.com
qualitymag.com
