The direction and scrutiny of this system is by a board with representatives of both industry, Unions and the Depts of Labor. It is administered by the Depts of Labor who also oversee testing and issuing certificates and in determining the curiculum of the various trade schools. It may be the area of most effective cooperation between industry and government.
All systems are prone to abuse and IIRC forged certificates are starting to appear, which has not been a problem in the past. Identity theft is more of a problem everywhere.
Know what you mean Steve. My last employer decided to start giving "welding tests" to new applicants. Had his "foreman" administer them. He would set the machine, run a pass, then hand the Mig gun to the guy and let him try. Brought me a sample one time, threw it on my table like it was something to behold. I looked at it, pushed it back across the table and told him,"30 minutes." He gave me a funny look, "What??" "I can teach my (then) 14 year old daughter to weld like that in 30 minutes. Set the machine to 0, then let HIM set it and I'll be impressed."
didn't have to talk to him for a couple of days. (BG)
I do wish we (America) had some sort of standardized tests similar to Canada. But you are right, the bureaucracy would have it so screwed up it would take forever and still not be worth a darn.
But you gotta admit, if a guy is applying for a job, and you just say, "Weld this and bring it in the office when it's cool", you can weed out the majority of the fake certs fairly fast. I can watch a welder from 50 feet away, and know if he's any good. Same way with tests.
In the U.S. the welder will usually be tested at hiring, regardless of the level of inspection on production welds. In the pipeline field every welder will test on every job (with the exception of a welder having current papers with that particular gas company, papers are good for 6 months), field welds will typically be 100% X-ray, plus 100% visual and the pressure test of course. It's just the nature of the business. In plant work varies.
I have seen a lot of people who are not suitable for their job, able to bullshit very well and make a very favorable impression -- until the moment when they are asked to do a simple test.
Yup. Welding test day at the yard was a near carnival for offshore pipeline jobs. Lots of scratch and sniff with guys you haven't seen for a while.
Boys who aced the test last time blow it this time. Some of the regulars just ho hummed and passed. Some newcomers got a break. Then time to go out and do the deed. Most of the guys made it from start to finish, old hands who knew what to expect in the lifestyle and who had been there before. A few washed out with too many repairs and cutouts. Some just got homesick and wanted to go home and see mama.
An old inspector and I got on pretty good terms, so I got to listen in and get the scoop. On all the jobs I was on, certs were never accepted, maybe looked at, but they had to have a coupon tested. The old inspector wasn't interested in anything but coupons, prepared properly. And x rays. On rigs, where welders were hired by and worked only for the oil companies, their cert policies were probably different, but for us, laying and jetting pipe, the men worked for the supply company, not the oil company.
That was the early seventies in the Gulf of Mexico oilfield pipeline work. On jobs where we were doing structural platform repair, or drilling setup, the standards were a little less, and they had their favorite welders and fitters. Those guys were hand picked for who could cut, fit, AND weld and not just stand at a station all day and do a root or a hot pass or a cover. Guys who were good at math and cutting pipe so it would branch and saddle. A lot of it was cut and fit, and not so much NDT or x ray, different from pipeline. Hooking up low pressure mud lines and tanks and welding down tugger dogs and long runs of plate wasn't nearly as critical as a high pressure natural gas line. Lots of guys who wouldn't miss an x ray couldn't cut a straight line or make a branch, and lots of the guys who liked cut and fit work didn't like standing in one place all day doing hot passes on a mechanized pipe roller system.
Both systems seem to work ok whether its a private company who need their work to pass or they will be sued into next week. Or Government that says this guy is halfway competent but still make sure he fits the job requirements
Either way as long as safe work is set as the absolute requirement either of the systems work. And i think that is unlikely to change fro critical type welding. I think the only variable is how much you can pay people for that same quality work
The private sector cannot afford the cost of cutting a corner on critical welding due to being sued into next week so they keep the testing and quality up and cut their corners elsewhere (whether its a canadian cert system or american)
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