The British based independent organization has stated that the practice of stamping of the letter 'V' (to indicate a visual inspection has been carried out) after the unique identifier stamp and the relevant date, should now cease. This has been agreed between IDEST, ASSET and the HSE and will apply to all cylinder PIs (Periodic Inspections) up to and including the 30 month inspection.

At present when a cylinder Is frequently visually inspected because of how it is used - either every six months or on an annual basis - the shoulder is stamped with the relevant date and a 'V'. It is therefore quite possible that a perfectly good (probably small) cylinder will be taken out of service prematurely because there is simply no more room left on the shoulder to stamp the relevant date and a 'V'.

The IDEST Blue Quadrant label denotes the cylinder has passed a visual inspection. IDEST has confirmed they will be rolling out a tamper-proof quadrant label shortly.