The Austrian Welding Academy Trust (AWA) has been awarded Authorised Training Board (ATB) status by the South African Institute of Welding (SAIW) and the International Institute of Welding (IIW).

AWA manager Tom Rice says that this accreditation ensures an ongoing commitment to maintaining the high student performance standards required by the SAIW and the IIW programmes.

“The accreditation posi- tions the AWA high in weld- ing training in terms of faci- lities, range of courses and instructors in both regional and international welding skills training,” he says.

The academy was opened in 2008 and its founding partners, welding technology companies Bohler Udderholm Africa, Bohler International, Fronius International and UTP, supplied the welding equipment, consumables, the welder training systems and resources for the academy with the support of the Austrian Development Agency.

The AWA Trust aims were established to provide for the assessment of the entry- level welder, the training of basic practical welding skills up to advanced and interna- tional levels, the coding and recoding of welders, the certification of competence and performance qualification testing.

The AWA, based in Isando, Johannesburg, caters for anyone desiring to begin or improve their welding skills to a level of certification recog- nised locally by professional organisations, industry and the SAIW and the IIW.

“Added to this is the course’s quality, which has a frequently reviewed syllabus and includes one-on-one student–instructor practical welding time,” says Rice.

The range of welding courses has also increased since gain- ing ATB accreditation, from basic practical welding in fillet, plate and pipe in the most widely used processes and positions to the SAIW/IIW international courses that include international practitioner, technologist and specialist courses.