Tool calibration

Tool calibration is the finding auditors reach for first, because it is easy to check and easy to get wrong. A torque wrench three weeks past recall is visible in seconds. This category covers the tool calibration register a Part 145 shop is expected to hold: which tools belong on it and which do not, how recall intervals are set and justified, traceability to national standards, what a calibration certificate has to show, and how to store certificates so they can be produced on demand rather than searched for. Tool calibration also has an awkward half — what happens when a tool is found out of calibration, how far back the impact assessment reaches, which completed jobs have to be reviewed, and how to keep out-of-calibration equipment away from live work in the first place. Practical process, written for shops that do not have a dedicated quality department.