European Federation for Welding, Joining and Cutting

The European Federation for Welding, Joining and Cutting (EWF) is an organization dedicated to education, training, qualification and certification in the field of welding and related technologies.

History
In 1992, welding course providers of several EU countries wanted to harmonise their education, training, qualification and certification procedures. Thus, they set up the European Federation for Welding, Joining and Cutting (EWF). The objective was that the same qualifications could be awarded in any country by using a single syllabus for each level of the training course and a harmonized system for examinations. EWF developed a comprehensive and harmonized system for training, qualification and certification of welding personnel and managed its application ever since. It took a leading role in the innovation of learning methodologies. It is also responsible for the certification system of companies that use welding, focusing on quality, environment, health, and safety.

The challenges addressed by EWF are two-fold: Respond to the industry's professional profile requirements and provide courses that leverage current technological trends and their impact on evolving lifestyles and information acquisition patterns.

Currently (2018), EWF has members from 28 European countries and two observer members from outside Europe, represented by their national welding societies: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, as well as Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.

EWF/IIW network
The federation licensed its qualification system to IIW (International Institute of Welding) in 2000, and since then, a combined EWF/IIW System has been offered in 46 countries worldwide, totaling 44 ANBs (Authorized National Bodies) and 683 ATBs (Authorized Training Bodies).

The network also includes 55,000 companies worldwide.

A certification system has been developed to guarantee manufacturer compliance with EN ISO 3834 and environmental and health safety schemes and its implementation is harmonized within EWF members.

Organization
The EWF has a General Assembly, a Board of Directors, a Secretariat and a Technical Committee with five working groups.

The EWF is governed by the General Assembly, which is representative of the member organizations. The General Assembly, composed of the members of the association, has full powers to accomplish the objectives of the association.

The General Assembly is responsible for electing its president and a Board of Directors.

The Secretariat is elected for a period of 5 years by the General Assembly from among the proposals made by the full members, in accordance with the criteria established by the General Assembly. [ ] The EWF Technical Committee is set up by the General Assembly to cover a technical area related to training, qualification and certification in the welding and joining fields, implying a continuous activity, without any time limit, and consists of the Chairman, the representatives of the members and Working Groups.

Education, training and qualification of personnel
The EWF qualification system has several types of professional training covering welding, bonding and related techniques. This harmonized system of education and training has been adopted by IIW as an international qualification system since 2000. Its relevance has been recognized both by ISO and CEN, which have EWF as a liaison member. These different technologies, like particular processes, require that the quality of the product be incorporated during the and maintenance, and cannot be ensured only by final testing. That entails personnel with particular high level of knowledge, skills and competencies, which can be obtained through the EWF qualification system.

There are three pillars which support the EWF Harmonized International Qualification System:


 * 1) Technical Committee: Harmonized qualification guidelines, rules and procedures are developed and approved by all members
 * 2) The National Member: is responsible for the supervision and implementation of the system through the Authorized Nominated Body (ANB)
 * 3) The Approved Training Centers: Approved Training Bodies (ATBs) implement the qualification guidelines

In 2012, in its annual report about international qualifications, the European Center for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), has considered the EWF qualification system as the best-case example, recognising the ground-breaking work done by EWF on creating a qualification framework which has been globally adopted.

EWF training guidelines
The EWF training guidelines cover all professional levels in welding technology and related areas, such as thermal spraying, adhesive bonding, plastics welding and underwater welding, leading to recognised qualifications in 30 European countries and also at international level. They can be listed as follows:


 * 1) European/International Welding Engineer
 * 2) European/International Welding Technologist
 * 3) European/International Welding Specialist
 * 4) European/International Welding Practitioner
 * 5) European/International Welding Inspection Personnel
 * 6) European/International Welder
 * 7) European Arc Welder for Railway Tracks
 * 8) European Thermal Spraying Specialist
 * 9) European Thermal Sprayer
 * 10) European Thermal Spraying Practitioner
 * 11) European Adhesive Bonder
 * 12) European Adhesive Specialist
 * 13) European Adhesive Engineer
 * 14) European Welding Specialist for Resistance Welding
 * 15) European Welding Practitioner for Resistance Welding
 * 16) European MMA Diver Welder
 * 17) European Aluminothermic Welder
 * 18) European Laser Processing Personnel
 * 19) Special Course for Robot Welding at the Specialist Level
 * 20) Special Course for Welding Reinforcing Bars at the Specialist level
 * 21) Special Course on Weld Imperfections for Non-Destructive Testing Personnel
 * 22) Special Course on Personnel with responsibility for Macroscopic and Microscopic Metallographic Examination of Structural Materials and their Joints Prepared/Produced by Welding and Allied Techniques
 * 23) Special Course on Personnel with Responsibility for Heat Treatment of Welded Joints
 * 24) Special Course on Risk Management in Welding Fabrication

Certification of welding personnel
Three certification schemes for personnel have been developed:

• Welding Coordination Certification has existed since 1998, was adopted by IIW in 2007 and is currently recognised worldwide, allowing Welding Coordinators to be certified according to the requirement of ISO 14731.

• Plastic Welders Certification has existed since 2004, providing training and certification according to EN 13067.

• Welders Operators and Brazers Certification exist since 2010. The goal of this scheme is to harmonise the welder's certification process, which is necessary for welder approval.

Certification of companies
EWF has created an integrated Manufacturers Certification Scheme, which complies with ISO 3834 on welding quality requirements, which is in place since 1998, ISO 14001 and OSHAS 18001 on environment and also health and safety, which are in place since 2000. The scheme has been adopted by IIW, only for the quality field.

Projects
A good part of EWF's activities have been related to its participation in European cooperation projects, in particular under the European Commission's programmes such as Lifelong Learning 2007-2013, 7th Framework Programme, Erasmus+ and H2020.

The project focuses on modernisation of teaching methods, harmonisation of qualifications, support for learning, implementation and benchmarking to other teaching areas. It covers a variety of areas like additive manufacturing, health and safety, microbonding, laser processing and adhesives that go beyond welding and joining but target manufacturing as a whole.