For those that can, ‘do’ and for those that can’t, ‘teach’. How many times have we heard that one? Well, when it comes to teaching underwater welding skills, David Keats of Speciality Welds most certainly can ‘do’ and can ‘teach’. David, who is a fully qualified International Welding Technologist, Senior Welding Inspector (Zurich Insurance approved) professional member of TWI and a qualified instructor, has been instrumental in developing the UK’s only accredited qualification in wet welding and has been involved with the industry since 1983, where he worked as a wet and hyperbaric welder for all the major diving contractors of the day, including Subsea Offshore, Comex Holder, Oceaneering and Wharton Williams Taylor (2W’s).

The diving industry is somewhat unique in the way in which it operates with regards to employees. Unlike that of say, an engineering employer, who sets on an apprentice, obtains Government funding to send them to college; day release or full/part-time. They serve their time and are rewarded with a National Qualification. The diving industry mainly operates through sub-contract or self-employed routes and therefore, this ‘standard’ route to education and qualification is not available (unless already qualified). This places the emphasis for any qualifications firmly with the individual diver, not the employer; – the challenge! For this reason it’s absolutely essential that educational/industry recognition is available and provided. Welding is an important skill for the diving industry and such recognition/availability is essential.

Unfortunately, in welding the term ‘qualification’ has a specific meaning, which tends to be simply understood as a ‘coding’. i.e. a practical weld test in which the welder demonstrates his physical skills and abilities. Of course, this element of the welder’s ability is essential, after all, welding is a craft-skill and physical ability is a large part of the job. But remember, for the engineering industries, this physical skill is supplemented with a number of years at college; i.e. ONC/HNC/HND, etc and most importantly, a management structure exists where foreman, senior engineers, supervisors and inspectors are also employed by the company; thus total responsibility for welding, does not lay with the welder. This structure does not generally exist for the inshore diving industry, and even for offshore the hands-on expertise can be limited. A diver-welder may well find himself the only competent welding person on site, thus has to have greater expertise on the subject of welding than simply being able to deposit weld metal! Another problem for the diving industry is people are attracted to it from all sorts of backgrounds, with engineering being only a small minority. Thus, this physical skill factor, although crucially important, is not in itself sufficient to provide industry with the next generation of competent, skilled welder-divers, divers with a minimum standard of competency in welding; which needs to include; safety, techniques, materials, weldability, electrodes, terminology, plant/equipment, weld defects, standards, etc. etc. There is much more to welding than just burning rods!

Because most divers are self-employed, thus, solely responsible for their own training/qualifications, unless they put themselves through college, there is limited opportunity to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to meet future industry demands, or even progress and extend their knowledge base. As we all know, once you are in the workplace, it’s very difficult to then attend college.  To this end; – the solution. Speciality Welds have developed an 80 hour welding training programme, called The WeldCraft-Pro. This course follows the International Institute of Welding (IIW) and European Welding Federation (EWF) guidelines for fillet welding and the qualification is issued by EAL (EMTA Awards), who are the UK’s largest engineering and marine training authority, issuing over 80% of all the UK’s engineering qualifications.  In addition, the programme is also recognised by IMarEST, the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology. Senior spokesman Mr. Ben Saunders said.  “I can confirm that the members of IMarEST Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Working Group were most impressed by the course and have recognised it as contributing to an individual member’s professional development requirements.

This course is the only competency assessed underwater welding course available that meets all of industries current demands. Training is provided through approved diver training schools, allowing training to take place, for new recruits,  immediately after diver training, thus, eliminating the need to return to school. For existing divers, the training is as compact as possible, usually taking no more than 10.5 days.

It’s absolutely crucial industry attracts the right calibre of individual to our industry, but equally important, industry needs to ensure training exists to the right standard, so it can equip individuals with all the skills necessary to keep Britain with its head above water and hopefully, leading the field.

INTRODUCTION

The training of commercial divers, with regards to underwater welding, has for many years and to a large extent even now, only played a small part of the overall diver training process. This has led on occasions to a questionable mixture of training standards and abilities taught and sometimes may have led to non or very little welding skills being acquired. Speciality Welds, experts to the welding industry, has received approved Test Centre status from the UK’s leading engineering awarding-body EAL for their WeldCraft-Pro^® underwater welding course. This course is also recognised by the CPD working group of the worlds leading learned society IMarEST. Mr David Keats, MD/president has been involved in the welding industry for over 33 years, of which, 25 have been connected with underwater and he is an official independently accredited welding surveyor for Zurich Insurance Risk Services. (UKAS/SAFed accredited inspection laboratories).

WHAT IS BEING OFFERED?

An approved ‘self-teach’ training package. A training programme that allows all audit approved diver training schools and other training organisations to deliver this accredited course themselves, in-house and in so doing issue, through EAL, an international welding qualification/certificate that follows the International Institute of Welding (IIW) and the European Welding Federation (EWF) document 570-01 for fillet welder - plate.

WHO ARE EAL?

EAL (EMTA) – Engineering & Marine Training Authority are part of the SEMTA Group – Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technology Awards and are licensed by the Secretary of State for Education and are the UK’s leading qualification authority, issuing over 80% of all engineering vocational qualifications and are a well recognised worldwide authority.

WHO ARE IMarEST?

The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology. Established in London in 1889, are the leading international membership body and learned society for marine professionals, with over 15,000 members worldwide. IMarEST has a strong international presence with an extensive marine network of 50 international branches, affiliations with major marine societies around the world, representation on the key marine technical committees and non-governmental status at the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF AN AWARDING BODY?

Consult with industry, employers and Government. Develop qualifications that recognise achievement and  provide credibility to Industry. Support and encourage education through approved test centres, to ensure the highest standards of training are delivered to meet industry demands.

WHO RUNS THE COURSE?

This is the USP of this training programme; you run it, we audit it, EAL certify it. For most approved schools/training providers this will be business as usual, as they no doubt already include welder training, to one standard or another. But by adopting this programme, training providers can now provide a standardised platform for teaching underwater welding skills; one that permits a consistency for training and ensures the highest standards of welding ability are provided to ensure students meet recognised industry demands.

HOW DOES THE SELF-TEACH METHOD WORK?

Interested parties should complete the application form, available from the companies website to initially register their interest. A site visit/audit needs to be conducted, which includes a briefing of all teaching staff and management of the materials and controls involved, etc. (There is no obligation to progress to approved status following a site visit and this site visit is offered without charge - travel expenses only).  Following a site visit, should a school wish to adopt the programme, a licence agreement needs to be signed, after which, all teaching syllabus, coursework materials and examination/question papers, etc may be issued.  The school then registers all new students with Speciality Welds (online) which will then generate the necessary test record/issue numbers. The school then commences training and upon completion, the school provides the necessary evidence and due-diligence of the students ability/course work, etc; so appropriate, certification may be issued. Speciality Welds is a registered ISO 9001 quality approved organisation and is audited under EAL’s test centre rules to ensure the highest possible qualty standards exist.

The process may sound a complex one, but is very easy and straight-forward to implement and the teaching documents provide a detailed road map through the course. The programme is presently running with two approved schools, one in the UK and one in the USA and the course has been delivered in Sweden, twice, for two commercial operators. We presently have registered interest from dive schools and specialist training providers in Spain, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Greece, South Africa, Australia and UAE.

WHAT QUALIFICATION IS ISSUED?

EAL issue certificates under the International Institute of Welding (IIW) and the European Welding Federation (EWF) against document 570-01 for fillet welder – plate, with certificates of approval issued under our Zurich (UKAS/SAFed) accreditation to either;

• AWS  D3.6-99

• ISO 15618-1:2002

For more information on the WeldCraft-Pro^® welding course please visit www.specialwelds.com or feel free to email us at sales@specialwelds.com This paper will next be presented at the Underwater Intervention – New Orleans, in February 2010

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