Infrared Thermography Working Group

Welcome to the first ‘In Focus’ of 2025. This month we interview Cailean Forrester, Managing Director of Inspectahire and Chair of BINDT’s Infrared Thermography Working Group.

Please give a brief history of the Group.
The Infrared Thermography Working Group has been in operation for over a decade since infrared technology became a mainstream non-destructive testing (NDT) and condition monitoring (CM) technique, widely adopted throughout industry and the man-made environment.

What is the purpose of the Group?
Performing infrared thermography requires great skill so it is vital that technicians are proficient in the technology. As well as application knowledge and experience, the third-party certification facilitated by the BINDT PCN Scheme allows employers and clients to benefit from quality personnel that fully understand the remit of the occupation.

For BINDT to proficiently manage a technology certification scheme, it relies upon industry experts to attend formalised group meetings or working groups to overview, review, amend and update certification schemes in line with industry requirements. This involves addressing issues such as compliance, standards updates, examination processes, examination questions and disputes/complaints or non-conformances. This is why the Infrared Thermography Working Group was set up.

The Group members hail from companies and training organisations involved in the industry and, although at times light-hearted in nature, the emphasis is always to provide an independent, robust examination procedure to ensure that practitioners are suitably qualified to perform thermography inspections. The Group’s make-up is important to achieve a balanced overview and positive benefit to the scheme.

What is your personal role within the Group?
I am currently Chair of the Group. I have been involved with thermography for over 40 years and at present have a strong focus on the use of thermography for the applications of optical gas imaging (OGI), which is used for visualising gas leaks and emissions.

What are the key achievements of the Group?
The Group has gone through many changes over the years, as have many of BINDT’s working groups. The Group has maintained its ability to respond to the ever-changing world of infrared thermography and endeavours to ensure the technology is fairly represented as an NDT and CM technique and that BINDT is able to provide relevant training and courses so that we have a pool of knowledgeable and qualified practitioners.

Is the Group working on any particular projects?
Currently, the Group is working on two significant projects:

• An update to BINDT publications Infrared Thermography Handbook Volumes 1 and 2 to bring them up to date with the new developments in camera technology and applications, for example the inspection of wind turbine blades, both during manufacture and in service; and

• Reviewing the bank of questions for the Level 1 and 2 PCN examinations and carrying out a gap analysis to see where this needs expanding given the changes in technology and capabilities.

What is the single most important thing about the Group that you would like readers to know?
We are a group of volunteers who are trying to develop, transfer knowledge and promote the use of this technology and welcome input and feedback from any practitioners throughout the world.

How can interested companies/individuals get involved?
Anyone interested can contact the Group through BINDT by email to: cm.adm@bindt.org

The next group to be featured in the ‘In Focus’ column will be the Standards Committee in June 2025. If you have questions for this group, please send them to Corinne Mackle at ndtnews@bindt.org or Maria Felice at mvfelice@gmail.com. The value of this column depends on your questions so please do send them in. It is your choice whether we keep them anonymous or mention your name.

Looking for the People in NDE column? This column will continue on an occasional basis, so if you have any interviewees to recommend, or would like to be featured yourself, please contact the editor at ndtnews@bindt.org or email Maria Felice at mvfelice@gmail.com