Keeping training on track

Report of the 7^th IoRW Technical Seminar on Developments and Training and Competence Assurance in Rail Welding.

The seventh event of the series was as well attended and as successful as the previous six. At this event the spotlight was on training in rail welding and related competencies.

Network Rail's requirements

Bill Mosley kick-started the day with a summary of Network Rail's requirements regarding track welding competence. Since Network Rail re-assumed direct responsibility for track maintenance a number of changes are taking place:

• There will be five NR-owned rail welder training centres in Scotland, North Yorkshire, the Midlands, the South West and South London.
  
  
• Non-NR training centres are free to operate but will require approval under the Certification Scheme for Welder Training Organisations for the centre and for their instructors.
  
  
• All centres will be required to use the new aluminothermic welder training package and the arc welding training package currently under development as applicable to the scope of the training offered.

NR are fully behind the development and continuous improvement of the harmonised packages: they provide a level of consistency in training that has been lacking hitherto.

Continuing competence of track welders (aluminothermic and arc) will be assured by workplace assessment after one year and re-assessment at a training centre after two years.

For the future, the trend will be towards ensuring compliance with new and emerging European standards for welder approvals, and linking the competence assurance activities with the award of National and Scottish Vocational Qualifications.

Approval of welder training centres

The Certification Scheme for Welder Training Organisations was the subject of a presentation by Dr David Shackleton. Dr Shackleton is the Lead Assessor for the scheme and, in this role, had now accumulated considerable experience in the expert assessment of some nine rail welder training organisations.

Dr Shackleton outlined the requirements for training centres and for instructors and then went on to explain that during the course of the initial audit programme, some of the technical criteria had changed:

• 2 hours at 250°C baking for the Filarc KV3L MMA electrodes.
  
  
• Instructors have to demonstrate their skill competencies in accordance with the new criteria at two yearly intervals.
  
  
• New details for storage of gas cylinders to overcome uncertainties in the BCGA Guidance Note 2.
  
  
• Specific requirements for the range of rails, sleepers and fastenings required by a training organisation in its stillages.
  
  

There have been problems in dealing with arc welding in relation to the scope of training centre approval because, unlike with aluminothermic welding, the harmonised training package was not complete. However, interim measures had been agreed and the first organisations had now been certified for arc welding.

The first annual surveillance audits were currently taking place focussing on the following:

• Monitoring facilities and equipment.
  
  
• Reviewing aluminothermic welder training with the new IoRW training material.
  
  
• Witnessing trainee/welder assessments.
  
  
• Examining course assessment records and trainee progression records.
  
  

In conclusion it was felt that the first 18 months of operation of the scheme had worked well and that greater consistency amongst certified welder training organisations had been achieved.

European standards for rail welding training and qualification

The complex situation with regard to emerging European standards was simplified in a presentation by Bob Sawdon of Balfour Beatty Rail Technologies.

Draft standard pr EN 1470-2 deals with the training and qualification of aluminothermic welders with much of the responsibility being placed on the process supplier and/or the rail authority. Qualification of the welder is in two parts: a 'Diploma' issued by the training establishment to demonstrate that training and testing has been successful; and a 'Permit to Weld' issued by the rail authority to allow the welder to work on track. The Diploma is valid for the life of the holder but the Permit to Weld requires periodic re-assessment of competence.

Arc welding qualification is covered by pr EN 14730-3, Restoration of Rails by Electric Arc Welding. This is limited to arc welding of the rail head and outlines requirements for the approval of consumables and procedures as well as for welder training and qualification. It is different from pr EN 14730-2 in that the qualification system is the responsibility of the contractor in accordance with the rail authority's rules.

With regard to arc welding procedures, it is proposed to establish IoRW procedures based on the series of standards that deal with this activity (EN ISO 15607, 15609, 15613 and 15614). A system is needed in the UK for the approval of the welding procedure specifications (WPSs) required by the standards.

Experience with the new harmonised aluminothermic welder training package

The harmonised aluminothermic welder training package was first issued in August 2004. Mick Wainwright of Thermit Welding (GB) Ltd outlined the experience gained by centres so far in using this package.

Mr Wainwright firstly outlined the structure and content of the packages and then went on to summarise the feedback that had been received from training centres.

With regard to the training course, the concerns were:

• Difficulties with attempting to train two different processes (Thermit SkV-E and Railtech PLA) to students with no previous knowledge of rail welding.
  
  
• Too much classroom work at the start of the course - trainees are anxious to start practical sessions.
  
  
• Small plant training needs to be concentrated on practical sessions and not theoretical sessions.
  
  

With regard to examination papers:

• Several questions were misleading.
  
  
• Some questions had more than one correct answer.
  
  
• Marking schemes showed the incorrect answer.

These matters were currently all being addressed in the IoRW Sub-Committee and it was hoped that a revised package would be issued shortly.

Training in arc welding of rails

Progress on the development of the arc welder training package was summarised by Geoff Chapman of Network Rail. The foundation of the system is a basic competence module in the manual metal arc repair of railhead defects (MMA 1). This then leads on to further MMA modules (eg re-surfacing of crossings, repair of crossings, repair of switchblades, etc) and/or to modules in flux cored arc welding (FCAW) for similar repair and re-surfacing work.

Approval tests in accordance with EN 287 were outlined for both MMA and FCAW. As for aluminothermic welding, re-certification every two years will require out-of-track assessment. However, satisfactory evaluation of production records may also be accepted.

It is hoped that the harmonised training package will be issued within the next few weeks.

Railsafe

A European perspective on rail welder training was presented by Hans van den Brug from the Netherlands who gave a comprehensive overview and update on the RAILSAFE project (see issue 13 of Welding Lines). The main objectives of this EU funded Leonardo da Vinci project are:

• To have trained and certified railway track welders available to assure the quality and reliability of railway tracks.
  
  
• To harmonise education, qualification and certification to make exchange of welders in the European Union possible.
  
  
• To assure the quality of and access to continuing vocational education and certification for life-long competences and better employability of railway welders across national borders.
  
  

The expected outcomes are:

1. Definition of industry requirements on performance objectives for the education of railway track welders, on welding procedures and on requirements for a database of certified welders and for a welders 'passport' system.
   
   
2. Guideline for Education, Qualification and Certification of Railway Track Welders.
   
   
3. Guideline for Specification and Approval of Welding Procedures for Railway Tracks.
   
   
4. Database of Certified Railway Track Welders and an international welders 'Passport' system.
   
   
5. Pilot courses with qualification and certification.

So far, draft documents for items 2, 3, and 4 above have been drafted and are being discussed at workshops throughout Europe. (In fact the UK RAILSAFE workshop was held the day before this seminar.) Work has also been done to ensure the outcomes of the project are in line with, and support pr EN 14730-2, see above. The draft documents are still open to comments and may be obtained from Carol Colegate, carol.colegate@twi.co.uk

The project is still in its early stages and completion is targeted for October 2007.

Competence in NDT

Finally there were two presentations on NDT as it is applied to rail welding. Firstly, Archie Crawford of Network Rail outlined the current thinking in Network Rail with regard to competence assurance in this area. The option of central certification by an independent third party has now been rejected in favour of an internal Network Rail scheme. Adherence to some of the requirements of EN 473, the European standard for independent certification of NDT personnel, has been maintained but these requirements will be used in combination with a written practice based on SNT-TC-1A guidelines published by the American Society of Non-Destructive Testing.

Mr Crawford outlined the roles and responsibilities within the scheme of: training bodies, examining bodies, employers and candidates. The NDT methods and techniques, and the levels of qualification were also defined.

Progress has been made in the development of the written practice covering all aspects of the scheme: roles and responsibilities, levels, routes to certification, examination syllabuses, assessments and examinations, and re-examination. The current ultrasonic testing techniques are being completely re-written to introduce more standardisation, for example setting sensitivity, defect sizing and reporting levels.

The scheme will also be applied to all NDT operators carrying out NDT as part of the final rail weld inspection or on completion of hard grinding to remove defects. The syllabuses for penetrant testing and magnetic particle testing are currently being prepared.

The second NDT presentation was given by Tim Jessop of TWI on behalf of Ivan Pinson, TWI's Training Manager. This presentation is featured in a separate article in this issue of Welding Lines. In summary, it describes a method of integrating independent, third party certification of NDT personnel with the specific requirements of employers in relation to NDT competence. This has been used already in the rail sector for training and certifying welders to carry out penetrant and magnetic particle testing specifically for rail repair by arc welding.

Discussion and conclusions

As usual there were lively discussion periods and these were ably orchestrated by the chairman for the day, Richard Johnson of Thermit Welding (GB) Ltd, who also interjected some thought-provoking comments of his own. A selection of the questions and comments is shown below:

• How will the CSWTO requirements and training packages be updated to take account of training in new process developments? This needs to be a rapid process, and perhaps an internet based system would be the most effective way.
  
  
• Will there be training and competence requirements for flash butt welding of rail? Some British and European standards already exist but, with this process, the important parameters are controlled by the machine. There may be a need to develop a scheme for flash butt weld inspectors.
  
  
• It may be worth forging stronger links between the CSWTO and requirements of the Adult Learning Inspectorate.
  
  
• There were a number of questions surrounding requirements for welding instructors, particularly skill requirements; and for those responsible for assessing the competence of welders. It was accepted that these areas may need further attention. Perhaps a log book system would help to underpin the current requirements.
  
  

In summarising the day's proceedings, Richard Johnson made three points in relation to benefits to the industry:

• Although improvements were needed, a successful, new, unified system of training had been installed in the UK.
  
  
• The UK system was being used as the template for a European-wide system
  
  
• The fact that the industry was moving forward on the basis of consensus, and that there was relevant independent third party involvement, provided a degree of comfort from the point of view of corporate and individual liability.
  
  

Eur Ing Tim Jessop
Executive Officer

Training

Two more organisations have achieved certification under the rail section of the Certification Scheme for Welder Training Organisations - Carillion Rail and In Line Track Welding.

Phil Instone, Robert Taylor and Kevin Wilkinson of Carillion Rail received certificate from Bill Mosley of Network Rail

David Thomson and colleagues from In Line Track Welding was unable to be present on this occasion to receive their certificates. They will be presented at the next Technical Seminar in November.