Is My Oxygen Cleaning House Qualified?
Very often when I’m presenting one of my Oxygen Clean Worker certification programs I’m told that, “We’re not going to do the actual oxygen cleaning in-house, we will send it out.” My response is usually something like, “Who do you use for oxygen cleaning?” Very often I am then asked if I can recommend a cleaning house. Sure, I know of companies that can do the work but I’m very often outside of my usual geographic area and don’t know of a cleaning house nearby. So this then presents a teaching moment that I’m very happy for. I’m always happy to help out when I can.
When you are looking for a house to perform oxygen cleaning to MIL-STD-1330 it’s important to know if they are actually qualified or knowledgeable about the standard. A while back while working for a military oxygen equipment manufacturer I was asked to consult with the quality manager. The manager was checking out a prospective supplier of new components to be used in a naval oxygen system. The RFQ to the supplier clearly stated that the components had to be cleaned and comply to MIL-STD-1330D. The supplier stated that his company had been oxygen cleaning to MIL-STD-1330D for over ten years and had no problem supplying material as requested. The quality manager then asked to see the company’s cleaning procedure. It is pretty much a given that any company that is doing work to military standards will have a written procedure. After a week or so the procedure was received and it was evident by the procedure approval date that it had just been written. But even more important, in reading the procedure it was determined that the company was not using approved chemicals in their process. So it is very important to check out new vendors.
In another case the cleaning vendor stated that they used the proper cleaner, NOC (Navy Oxygen Cleaner) and it was determined that they actually did use the NOC as stated. However, just using the proper cleaner isn’t necessarily enough. This vendor didn’t have anything in the company procedure that mentioned testing. In order to comply with the standard there are several tests that must be performed along with the cleaning procedure. It was never determined if this vendor did any of the required tests that verify the cleanliness of the product.
Another clue as to whether a vendor is really qualified is to look at the way the cleaned item is packaged or look at the packaging section of the cleaning procedure. According to the requirements of MIL-STD-1330D items are usually double bagged, heat sealed, and properly labeled. The “properly labeled” part can often be the big clue. Labels must be green, must have specific wording and have other required information. If a vendor can’t provide the proper label maybe they can’t do the cleaning properly either.
Here is a proper label. All wording and information is mandatory. The absence of info is a specification violation.. Always check the procedures of your proposed vendor.
