Creating a welder qualification program.

[cjhixon]

I lead a fairly large maintenance organization with >100 technicians at the site. Some of them have previous welding experience but we contract out virtually all of our welding needs. Several members of the team would like to weld or learn to weld. I am considering setting up a certification program to allow some staff to qualify to perform some of our welding tasks. I am considering:

• TIG
• MIG
• Non-code
• Non-structural
• Non hygenic
• Stainless, mild steel, and aluminum

Typically this would be drip pans, light duty brackets, carts, stainless non-pressurized drain lines up to 2-in, etc. and only for internal company work. The benefits I see are more engaged employees, develop portable skills for my staff, better understanding of things that they maintain and inspect, stronger sense of ownership, faster turn around on repairs, keep work interesting and learning culture.

I’d like to know what folks here think about this. Risks? Resources, syllabus or other information on how to set this up. I’m looking for both knowledge transfer as well as appropriate welding tests.

Thanks in advance.

[tapwelder]

https://pubs.aws.org/p/1924/aws-fund...ing-curriculum

[walker]

Sounds like a good lan to me. When I was working for the gas utility I was always pushing for more education, more tasks, and for exactly the reasons you stated. I ran into monumental walls put up by idiots and lazy people. Best of luck.

[Beeker]

Couldn't you check with local community college welding shop for this? Ours thrives on programs like this and seeks companies looking to coordinate business training/certifications; even if they are just one-time trainings. The school even works to get new, interested students in and topic-trained especially if the classes aren't prefilled with company personnel...probably good for hiring and attrition replacements. I'm pretty sure the local CC had (separate) class runs for wind power/turbines, pipeline, and structural for different businesses around here...
Just a thought.

[Zebidiah]

I teach welding for the company I work for. With demand being what it is for production welders right now, they are willing to take on individuals with little to no welding skills if they are of the right attitude. The success rate is high if you are careful of the individuals you take on. Seeing as they would already be working in your presence this should not be a huge issue. My advice is to figure out how to get this done while taking on as little cost to them as possible. All of the information for setting up a basic welding skills class are online. You just have to find it and put it together in a logical manner. Reading your post, it looks like you have thought this out and have a quality pitch. Good luck!

[Welder Dave]

Are you or is someone else there fairly qualified in welding? I think having experienced guidance is the key. The local tech. school that does apprenticeship training and/or welder qualifications would be a good place to help you set up a program.

[shovelon]

I lead a fairly large maintenance organization with >100 technicians at the site. Some of them have previous welding experience but we contract out virtually all of our welding needs. Several members of the team would like to weld or learn to weld. I am considering setting up a certification program to allow some staff to qualify to perform some of our welding tasks. I am considering:

• TIG
• MIG
• Non-code
• Non-structural
• Non hygenic
• Stainless, mild steel, and aluminum

Typically this would be drip pans, light duty brackets, carts, stainless non-pressurized drain lines up to 2-in, etc. and only for internal company work. The benefits I see are more engaged employees, develop portable skills for my staff, better understanding of things that they maintain and inspect, stronger sense of ownership, faster turn around on repairs, keep work interesting and learning culture.

I’d like to know what folks here think about this. Risks? Resources, syllabus or other information on how to set this up. I’m looking for both knowledge transfer as well as appropriate welding tests.

Thanks in advance.

Tig, tig, tig, and more tig. The tig process can weld all of these alloys. Once some skills are developed you can put together an AWS D17.1 qualification program. Usually class C qualifications can be earned without the useage of a qualified procedure. Heck even Mr. Tig offered test kits for welder qualifications.

I have all of the qualified procedures. I qualify all my own people per the AWS codes. And also qualify procedures for customers. My test labs are all local and we work well together. I have procedure tests out for macro work and the test lab borrows my AWS specs on occasion. I also put on tig clinics(during non covid times) for high schools and colleges for their robotic teams, race teams, and steel bridge teams.

First thing I would do is google Mil-STD-2219, Mil-STD-1595A, Mil-STD-5021D, download in PDF and print. Written for 18 year old army recruits, they are historical and free. AWS D17.1 is derived over years from these and not free, and written in code speak. Once you have a decent grasp of them join AWS and buy the most recent copy of D17.1. Have your trainees weld the test coupon for .074" material(14 gauge and keep all of the material test reports or certs for supplemental documentation for your reports) in the groove configuration, visually check the finished welds from the checklist in the book, send out for penetrant test, and if passed penetrant cut up and bend test. Once all conditions are passed fill in the test report and your weldor is qualified to Class C. If you want them to be Class A you need them to follow a Class A qualified procedures and radiograph is required in lieu of bend test or vice versa. Some can be bought from AWS, and some cannot. We did Class C qualifications forever until my customer paid for the qualified procedures. Keeping within the procedure parameters is tricky in itself.

Anyway this is my huckleberry. I am working with an auto mechanic right now to test him for stainless and alum under AWS D17.1. Keep asking questions and we can put together a program. Question is who is going to spearhead the program for you.

[thegary]

I would go to your local JC or trade school and set it up through them. I went to 4 years of night school training at the local JC and my employer paid for the class as long as I had a B average . I learned everything from print reading, math, machining,Industrial electical, to HVAC repair all paid by my employer. They did not pay me to attend but I had no problem with that. I did not need the welding training because I had 2 years of vocational welding in high school but the JC's can setup custom training for any welding you want. It was quite inexpensive for my employer also. I worked there for 15 years and was the maint. supervisor when I left . That was the best job I ever had. If it had not been in Chicago I would have stayed but I left the area to give my kids a better childhood in a rural area.

[cjhixon]

We have programs with the CC and we also participate in an apprentice program. I am thinking that I want to do this in-house so we build the capability to develop and manage better training programs. This is something the team would enjoy so it should be motivating. We have other specialty training programs that we need that make sense to manage in house for custom equipment.

[William McCormick]

I lead a fairly large maintenance organization with >100 technicians at the site. Some of them have previous welding experience but we contract out virtually all of our welding needs. Several members of the team would like to weld or learn to weld. I am considering setting up a certification program to allow some staff to qualify to perform some of our welding tasks. I am considering:

• TIG
• MIG
• Non-code
• Non-structural
• Non hygenic
• Stainless, mild steel, and aluminum

Typically this would be drip pans, light duty brackets, carts, stainless non-pressurized drain lines up to 2-in, etc. and only for internal company work. The benefits I see are more engaged employees, develop portable skills for my staff, better understanding of things that they maintain and inspect, stronger sense of ownership, faster turn around on repairs, keep work interesting and learning culture.

I’d like to know what folks here think about this. Risks? Resources, syllabus or other information on how to set this up. I’m looking for both knowledge transfer as well as appropriate welding tests.

Thanks in advance.

I think that welding alone is kind of dangerous, without the understanding of the metals they are welding. A little blacksmithing is a very good thing, in fact, all the people I learned welding from took blacksmithing either in school or in the service, then they went on to welding. Welding is not the "A" method of fastening things unless it is done in the strictest of surroundings with subsequent testing. But life is what it is and we use welding in our day to day lives to build things for our lives, barbeques, rotisseries, tanks, pans railings, stairs, car, truck, and trailer parts. Some of this welding is done because most do not have the right size vertical milling machine or large hunks of solid metal to mill or Kenmill down to the part we want. Some things just cannot be milled because of size or ridiculous cost. So we weld, but we are not starting off on the most solid footings and that is why everyone that welds should understand metal very well. The different processes that metal is subjected to and where those types of metal are found in industry, and in our day to day lives before you put an ARC to them. So I would suggest a blacksmithing course, or metallurgy expert first then welding.

Sincerely,

William McCormick

[shovelon]

I think that welding alone is kind of dangerous, without the understanding of the metals they are welding. A little blacksmithing is a very good thing, in fact, all the people I learned welding from took blacksmithing either in school or in the service, then they went on to welding. Welding is not the "A" method of fastening things unless it is done in the strictest of surroundings with subsequent testing. But life is what it is and we use welding in our day to day lives to build things for our lives, barbeques, rotisseries, tanks, pans railings, stairs, car, truck, and trailer parts. Some of this welding is done because most do not have the right size vertical milling machine or large hunks of solid metal to mill or Kenmill down to the part we want. Some things just cannot be milled because of size or ridiculous cost. So we weld, but we are not starting off on the most solid footings and that is why everyone that welds should understand metal very well. The different processes that metal is subjected to and where those types of metal are found in industry, and in our day to day lives before you put an ARC to them. So I would suggest a blacksmithing course, or metallurgy expert first then welding.

Sincerely,

William McCormick

Metalworking is a mish/mash of all disciplines. Personally I think blacksmithing is more dangerous than Tig welding. But then I teach tig privately and give a short primer on safety practices and rules of thumb. The students usually type those into their cell phones. I also play a little game with them called "What hurts real bad". Some things that hurt real bad are a flying tunsten in the eye, hot filler rod in the eye, bad ground clamp causing nice shock on bare fingers, picking up flaming hot weldments with bare fingers, etc.

I also a big proponent of not sucking helium from a bottle. I tell them if they confuse argon for helium they die real hard. Happened to a customer's daughter a few years back.