Welders and Welding Machine Operators
Career Overview
Welders operate welding equipment to weld ferrous and non-ferrous metals. This unit group also includes machine operators who operate previously set up production welding, brazing and soldering equipment. Employment can be found at companies that manufacture and or repair structural steel and platework, boilers, heavy machinery, aircraft and ships and other metal products.
Welders:
- read and interpret blueprints or welding process specifications
- operate manual or semi-automatic welding equipment to fuse metal segments using processes such as gas tungsten arc (GTAW), gas metal arc (GMAW), flux-cored arc (FCAW), plasma arc (PAW), shielded metal arc (SMAW), oxy-acetylene (OAW), resistance welding and submerged arc welding (SAW)
- operate manual or semi-automatic flamecutting equipment, brazing and soldering equipment, and metal shaping machines such as brakes, shears and other metal straightening and bending machines
- repair worn parts of metal products by welding on extra layers
- may specialize in certain types of welding such as custom fabrication, ship building and repair, aerospace precision welding, pressure vessel welding, pipeline construction welding, structural construction welding, or machinery and equipment repair welding.
Welding, brazing and soldering machine operators:
- operate previously set up welding machines such as spot, butt and seam resistance or gas and arc welding machines to fabricate or repair metal parts
- operate previously set up brazing or soldering machines to bond metal parts or to fill holes, indentations and seams of metal articles with solder.
- start up, shut down, adjust and monitor robotic welding production line
- assist with the maintenance and repair of welding, brazing and soldering equipment
- may adjust welding heads and tooling according to work specifications.
Career Progression
Progression to supervisory positions is possible with experience. Red Seal trade certification for welders allows for inter provincial mobility.
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