Owner Management Support is Fundamental to Achieving What "Good Inspection" Looks Like

A good inspection is not defined by what the inspector knows or by which NDE method is used. It is determined by whether the organization allows the truth about equipment condition to surface and then acts on it. That is entirely a management function.

1. Management Defines the Purpose of Inspection

Inspection will drift toward whatever leadership implicitly rewards.

• If leadership rewards on-time startups, budget adherence, and unit availability, inspection becomes a checkbox.
• If leadership rewards risk identification and damage mechanism understanding, inspection becomes a decision-quality input.

Inspectors very quickly learn whether their role is to find problems or to confirm acceptability. Only one of those produces absolute mechanical integrity.

2. Inspection Quality is a Management-Controlled Variable

Most inspection failures are not technical; they are organizational:

• Inspection scope is cut to fit outage windows.
• Coverage is negotiated downward after access issues appear.
• Techniques are selected for speed or cost instead of probability of detection.
• Follow-up is deferred because "we'll look at it next turnaround."

Every one of those decisions is owned by management, not inspectors. Good inspection requires leadership to:

• Allow scopes to expand when new damage is discovered
• Accept schedule impacts when access or preparation is inadequate
• Fund intrusive or specialty NDE when required by the damage mechanism

3. Acting on Inspection Findings is Where Support is Proven

Inspection has no value unless findings drive decisions and execution. Last week, we discussed this and hinted at today's topic. Weak support looks like:

• Findings reclassified to lower risk categories
• Temporary repairs normalized
• Known thinning accepted without a clear end-of-life plan
• "Engineering review pending" that never resolves

Strong support looks like:

• Clear ownership for disposition of every significant finding
• Defined timelines for repair, rerate, replacement, or monitoring
• Willingness to shut down or constrain operation when limits are reached

This is where most loss-of-containment events originate: known degradation that was tolerated.

4. Management Sets the Tone for Truth-Telling

Inspectors operate at the edge of bad news. If leadership reacts to alarming findings with:

• Skepticism
• Downward pressure
• Repeated re-analysis aimed at overturning conclusions

Then, inspectors learn to self-censor.

Good inspection requires psychological safety:

• Inspectors must believe that raising concerns will be supported, not punished
• Conservative calls must be defended, not overridden casually
• Escalation paths must exist when technical disagreement arises

An organization that argues every alarming finding will eventually stop hearing about them.

5. Owner Management Owns Competency and Continuity

Quality inspection erodes when management:

• Rotates experienced inspectors off units too frequently
• Treats inspection as interchangeable labor
• Outsources accountability without retaining technical ownership

Strong owner support means:

• Long-term stewardship of critical assets
• Retention of damage mechanism knowledge
• Clear technical authority structures

Inspection is a knowledge-based discipline, not just a service.

6. "Good Inspection" is Ultimately a Leadership Choice

Codes, standards, RBI tools, and NDE technologies matter—but none of them compensate for weak ownership. Organizations with strong management support:

• Find more problems earlier
• Make more complex decisions sooner
• Have fewer surprise failures

Organizations without it often say, after an incident, "We knew about it. We didn't think it would fail this soon."

That statement is not an inspection failure. It is a management support failure.

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