Very Sensitive. The Dishonest need not apply.

[Honest Tom]

Is it legal to deny a raise or threaten to fire a calibration technician if he/she doesn't blatenly put a calibration sticker on a piece of equipment. ?

I know the answer to this question.  What I want to know is if there are legal ramifacations for proof of such demands. 

I am sick and tired of up rooting my family because there aren't enough calibration jobs due to the fact that calibration time can be cut to improve the bottom line.

I know some of you on here, and rest assurred you know me.  I am asking if there are any honest hands here on deck who are willing to risk it all to do the right thing and come clean about things such as these.  Enough is enough.

There are some greedy business men who deliberatly operate in the EXACT opposite from their code of ethics, which they so heartedly wrote to aquire their loans.

I am willing to come clean, and. . . . . . . . I have proof.  I have direct proof.  I am in no fear of being accussed any more of slander, because the truth is undenyable.  I am sorry for all the people who this is going to hurt, but right is right.

Please help me.  This is the only community who will understand.  I need help and I am willing to testify to the fact of what goes on.

And before anyone objects. . . . please don't go on record as a lier, because by the time you realize that this is serious, and I am serious, it will be too late to flip sides. 

I am truly sorry, but enough is enough and I'm calling forth everyone who considers themselves an honest hand.  Please help me bring honesty back to this career field.  Please help alleviate our guilt.  Let's do the right thing.  It's not all about money.

[Honest Tom]

Please don't mind my spelling.  I'm just really fired up.

[Honest Tom]

I guess no one wanted to touch this one with a ten foot pole, huh?
And in case anyone was wondering, yes, I am very serious.   The game is up.   I will stand alone if I have to.   I just wish I knew that I had support.   I want to believe that there are good people still out there. 

And as for the rest, shame on you.

[Honest Tom]

P. S.

Anyone wonder why the job section of this forum has few posts? It's because 1 technician is doing what usually takes 5 to 8 technicians.  I aim to restore what was once a great career field.  Who's with me?

[Honest Tom]

didn't think so. 

[Honest Tom]

I didn't think that anyone would have the bawls enough to reply to this.  Here's the thing.  I'm going to make it my life's mission to ensure that justice is served the greedy bastards who slept soundly while planes flew overhead, knowing damn well that they forced their technicians to work outside their comfort zone and boarderline unwillingly placed stickers on test equipment. 

I'm going to make it my life's mission to ensure that the owner/operators of such businesses are held responsible for their actions, and I apologize to the moderators of this forum for the vessal in which the claims are being made.

I want a collection of honest people to come forth and tell the truth of what's going on.  I promise you that you will not be held responsible.  I can not promise the same if you decide to hide.

The numbers don't lie.  And trust me, when it comes down to finger pointing, your employers will be the first to call you out, rest assured, and deep down in your hearts, you know it.

I am here to tell you that there is nothing to fear, and the truth shall set you free.  Do the right thing.

Testteang@gmail. com

[flew-da-coup]

 I can only guess who you work for. When companies buy out calibration labs and they have no idea of what we do it is a problem. I don't think they realize the true issues that can come about by making people "Lick and Stick". The company that I work for is owned by a former Navy calibration tech and he gets it. I operate one of his labs and I do not tolerate hot stamping. When something comes in and we do not have the capability of fully calibrating a piece of equipment we send it to the OEM. My customers respect us for that honesty. From defense, aerospace, manufacturing, biomed, nuclear and so on peoples lifes can be directly effected by how honest we are on the bench. I think one of the problems is salary. To many companies do not pay top dollar for qualified techs that can do the job right and effeciently. It is true that speed makes money, but they need to understand that you have to pay good money for techs that can get the equipment tested/calibrated in a timely manner. There is a balance between quality and production, not managed correctly one will greatly effect the other. Tom, I do understand your concerns and they are legitimate. However, I must warn you to be careful about naming names. It could come back to bite you in the ass and you do not need that. It will catch up with the companies that are looking only at revenue. Let them be their own undertaker. In the past companies (customers) didn't care and just wanted a peice of paper. Now the tides are changing. I know it stinks, but it is changing and for those companies that cannot see that will cease to exist in the coming years.

[txted]

Wow, nice rant.   I share your concerns about the honesty of the management and their quest for the bottom line.   I just couldn't let this topic slide by without my two cents.   I've been working for an outfit that for the longest time was of the opinion that Cal Techs were a dime a dozen.   This attitude led to many problems in the lab, things just didn't get done as timely as they could have, but quality is a matter of personal choice.   Will you put your name on it?  Never, Never, Never was I asked, or even hinted to that the thing to do would be "lick and stick".   Our job is to sell 'valid' certifications to our customers.   These are legal documents and are held to a high standard in a court of law, with ramifications that reach way beyond the bottom line of the quarterly statment.   Imagine the poor bastard at Toyota right now who was the guy that certified the software package for their cars.   Shoddy products have a way of weeding themselves out of the market place.   Some at higher cost than others.   I understand the difficulties of changing jobs and moving your family and all, but rest assured your professional reputation is much more valuable at this point than it will be when the cards start to fall in a disreputable outfit.   These are not new concerns, ISO 17025 is mostly set up to ensure the MANAGEMENT does the job right.   Even in a tough job market positions are available.   Don't put yourself in a position you don't need to be in.   Stand by your principals, in this job if you don't do the right thing everytime, your worse than useless, your part of the problem.

[metrologygeek]

I agree. Nice rant. For me, in the thirty years since I went to tech school at Lowry and started working in Metrology, I have been asked (told) to hot stamp something I knew was bad just once. That was in 1984, and I handed over my badge and walked out on the spot, and that company has long since gone down through chapter 11. On the other hand, since then I've worked mostly for major aerospace companies that understand the importance of metrology. I imagine it's quite a bit different for those who work for independent, third party labs. I've never wanted to or had to move from where I live here in God's country (NorCal). I'm sure there is a problem out there in the sleazier companies, but it's hard to see from where I sit. The biggest problem we have here is after each biannual reorganization the new set of bean counters looks at our org and says, "Hey, I didn't know we had weathermen working for us"...

[txted]

Wait a minute.

I resent the crap you are spuewing.   Think about it, I understand your frustration, but YOU gotta take responsibility somewhere!  Unemployment sucks, but your integrity is only yours to compromise.   Perhaps you should change your handle to Rollover Tom.

[CalLabSolutions]

Tom I see it all the time..  It is hard for me to sell software to some labs  because they have that so called master tech who can calibrate an item manually in half the time it takes to do it automated.

Yes there are some items that are easier to do manually, like hand held multi meters..  But it takes a good 6 hours to calibrate an 8563E manually.  If you have a tech calibrating them in under an hour, I call would call that a likem-stickem-cal.

We have the Automated Cal time on that procedure down to an hour and 20 minutes to an hour and 45 minutes depending on options.  That is all the test in the manufacturer's manual including options.

Mike Schwartz
Cal Lab solutions

[Rocket]

Hey Tom-
You started your post at 2135 and then at Midnight, you turned away in apparent disgust that you didn't get collaboration. I think that most people look at this site during the day and do not check dialy, so rest assured, the responses will start rolling in. It does seem that you are looking for very specific backing, perhaps by very specific people that are aware of the company and individuals you are refering to.
I believe we all have seen our share of companies that "hot stamp" or calibrate items without using 1/3 of the required standards. I work in a private lab, so we are accountable to each other and display integrity. Some of our calibration vendors...well. if we have doubts about their proficiency and/or integrity, then we will drop them.

[Kalrock]

This thread should be locked there is no need for two identical post.  Continue the discussion in the other thread in the QA section.

[Kalrock]

As Rocket stated in the other thread about this you need to give the community a little time to respond.  I personally have been at a company that foster hot stamping and that in turn led me and most of my colleges to move to another company.  I would like to point out though that a lot of conceived hot stamping is not from any intentional devious design, but because of lack of experience and knowledge.  That's why it is imperative that a company hire competent experienced techs and have a training system in place that helps bring up entry level techs so they don't develop bad habits. 

As far as the job market goes I don't believe that has anything to do with hot stamping because I'm sure we as a community cover most cal labs and would vouch for most people that we work for.  The lack of jobs is probably based on the fact that we are in a recession and even though there are signs that we are coming out of it, it is still going to take years to properly recover.

If you have had bad enough luck to run into this multiply times and want to make a stand that's fine, but don't come to the assumption that the industry has turned into a lickem' stickem' operation.  I'm pretty sure that would offend everyone in this forum that prides themselves on their professionalism.

[WestCoastCal]

Tom, Hope there is some legal recourse to nail their unethical asses.  My first job out of the Navy was a purely commercial cal lab.  The lab manager was all over our backs to decrease 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there, etc.  Coincident to this, instruments were going into his office and emerging with a cal label later that afternoon.  Do I need to state no test equipment in his office? gotta admit he was king at getting the label residue cleaned off!  Anyway, I was so deeply affected I developed ulcers at 25 years old.  I got out of their after 9 months-so if there was a way to actually punish actions such as this, I would fully support it/hell help write the SOP's on how to meet out the justice.  Proving this may be impossible, from what I have seen, the unethical ones get persuaded to get out of the industry, or bounce from one lab to another, their reputations follow them and we all know who they are.  I have had the privelege to work with many fine independant commercial cal labs and am no way disparaging them when I suggest to you to get into a lab that only calibrates their own equipment-lots less stress and no pressure to lick and stick.  You need a break, and please be very careful, you sound as a caring, committed member of the metrology community and would hate to see a loss due to libelous statements.  good luck