Over the past couple of decades Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) has seen a significant increase in the use of automation. In addition to increased reliability, objectivity, consistency, repeatability, productivity, and so on, automating parts of the process is expected to decrease the potential for human error. However, the literature on human-automation interaction suggests that automation is not only associated with benefits, but also with new risks and risk sources. First, this paper will present the methodology used to identify - for the first time - possible risks associated with mechanised data acquisition and corresponding data evaluation. Moreover, it will highlight possible risks, their causes, consequences, and ways of preventing them. Second, those preventive measures will be further analysed by examining new risks that can arise from their implementation, i.e. potential for failure that can arise from (a) working with automated defect-detection and sizing aids, (b) implementing human redundancy, and (c) improvement of the inspection procedures without due consideration of the procedure users. And third, some optimisations strategies will be provided. The purpose of this work is to show that mechanised testing is associated with potential for failure and that the sources of those risks go beyond single inspectors and need to be looked at in the interaction of people with other systems, i.e. the technology, the team and, most importantly, the organisation.
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