Welder

Purpose:

Use hand-welding or flame-cutting equipment to weld or join metal components or to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal product. Join, fabricate and repair metal and other weldable material by applying appropriate welding techniques.

Education:

Associate Degree or Certificate

High School Diploma and relevant experience

Knowledge: 

Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials

English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills:

Basic Skills

• Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Social Skills

• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Complex Problem Solving Skills

• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

Technical Skills

• Equipment Maintenance - Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
• Equipment Selection - Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
• Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
• Operation and Control - Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
• Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
• Quality Control Analysis - Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.

Work Context

Body Positioning

• Spend Time Bending or Twisting the Body
• Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions
• Spend Time Standing
• Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls

Communication

• Contact With Others
• Face-to-Face Discussions

Environmental Conditions

• Cramped Work Space, Awkward Positions
• Exposed to Contaminants
• Extremely Bright or Inadequate Lighting
• Very Hot or Cold Temperatures

Job Hazards

• Exposed to Hazardous Conditions
• Exposed to Hazardous Equipment

Routine versus Challenging Work

• Importance of Being Exact or Accurate
• Structured versus Unstructured Work

Pace and Scheduling

• Time Pressure

Work Attire

• Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets
• Wear Specialized Protective or Safety Equipment such as Breathing Apparatus, Safety Harness, Full Protection Suits, or Radiation Protection

Work Setting

• Indoors, Not Environmentally Controlled

Tasks

• Operate safety equipment and use safe work habits.
• Weld components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions.
• Ignite torches or start power supplies and strike arcs by touching electrodes to metals being welded, completing electrical circuits.
• Clamp, hold, tack-weld, heat-bend, grind or bolt component parts to obtain required configurations and positions for welding.
• Detect faulty operation of equipment or defective materials and notify supervisors.
• Operate manual or semi-automatic welding equipment to fuse metal segments, using processes such as gas tungsten arc, gas metal arc, flux-cored arc, plasma arc, shielded metal arc, resistance welding, and submerged arc welding.
• Monitor the fitting, burning, and welding processes to avoid overheating of parts or warping, shrinking, distortion, or expansion of material.
• Examine workpieces for defects and measure workpieces with straightedges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications.
• Recognize, set up, and operate hand and power tools common to the welding trade, such as shielded metal arc and gas metal arc welding equipment.
• Lay out, position, align, and secure parts and assemblies prior to assembly, using straightedges, combination squares, calipers, and rulers.
• Chip or grind off excess weld, slag, or spatter, using hand scrapers or power chippers, portable grinders, or arc-cutting equipment.
• Analyze engineering drawings, blueprints, specifications, sketches, work orders, and material safety data sheets to plan layout, assembly, and welding operations.
• Connect and turn regulator valves to activate and adjust gas flow and pressure so that desired flames are obtained.
• Weld separately or in combination, using aluminum, stainless steel, cast iron, and other alloys.
• Determine required equipment and welding methods, applying knowledge of metallurgy, geometry, and welding techniques.
• Mark or tag material with proper job number, piece marks, and other identifying marks as required.
• Prepare all material surfaces to be welded, ensuring that there is no loose or thick scale, slag, rust, moisture, grease, or other foreign matter.
• Select and install torches, torch tips, filler rods, and flux, according to welding chart specifications or types and thicknesses of metals.
• Remove rough spots from workpieces, using portable grinders, hand files, or scrapers.
• Position and secure workpieces, using hoists, cranes, wire, and banding machines or hand tools.
• Clean or degrease parts, using wire brushes, portable grinders, or chemical baths.
• Repair products by dismantling, straightening, reshaping, and reassembling parts, using cutting torches, straightening presses, and hand tools.
• Fill holes, and increase the size of metal parts.
• Dismantle metal assemblies or cut scrap metal, using thermal-cutting equipment such as flame-cutting torches or plasma-arc equipment.
• Check grooves, angles, or gap allowances, using micrometers, calipers, and precision measuring instruments.
• Guide and direct flames or electrodes on or across workpieces to straighten, bend, melt, or build up metal.
• Develop templates and models for welding projects, using mathematical calculations based on blueprint information.
• Cut, contour, and bevel metal plates and structural shapes to dimensions as specified by blueprints, layouts, work orders, and templates, using powered saws, hand shears, or chipping knives.
• Preheat workpieces prior to welding or bending, using torches or heating furnaces.
• Set up and use ladders and scaffolding as necessary to complete work.
• Hammer out bulges or bends in metal workpieces.

Activities

Controlling Machines and Processes

• Braze metal parts or components together
• Burn (cut), trim, or scarf metal objects
• Fabricate beams
• Operate hoist, winch, or hydraulic boom
• Operate metal or plastic fabricating equipment/machinery
• Perform detailed welding techniques
• Solder metal parts or components together
• Use acetylene welding/cutting torch
• Use arc welding equipment
• Use gas welding equipment
• Use hand or power tools
• Use non-destructive test equipment
• Use precision measuring tools or equipment
• Use soldering equipment
• Use thermal-cutting equipment
• Weld together metal parts, components, or structures

Handling and Moving Objects

• Apply protective coating to products
• Clean or degrease weld, or parts to be welded or soldered
• Fabricate, assemble, or disassemble manufactured products by hand
• File, sand, grind, or polish metal or plastic objects
• Position, clamp or assemble workpiece prior to welding
• Preheat metal before welding, brazing, or soldering
• Sharpen metal objects

Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events

• Identify base metals for welding
• Identify properties of metals for repair or fabrication activities
• Recognize characteristics of alloys
• Recognize characteristics of metals
• Recognize welding symbols
• Understand technical operating, service or repair manuals

Performing General Physical Activities

• Apply cleaning solvents
• Climb ladders, scaffolding, or utility or telephone poles
• Move or fit heavy objects
• Perform welding techniques over lengthy time span
• Weld in flat, horizontal, vertical, or overhead position

Getting Information

• Read blueprints
• Read production layouts
• Read specifications
• Read technical drawings
• Read work order, instructions, formulas, or processing charts

Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Material

• Examine products or work to verify conformance to specifications

Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings

• Maintain safe work environment
• Monitor production machinery/equipment operation to detect problems
• Monitor the quantity of assembly output

Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment

• Adjust welding equipment
• Maintain welding machines or equipment
• Setup welding equipment

Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge

• Use combination welding procedures
• Use knowledge of welding filler rod types
• Use spot or tack welding techniques

Tools and Technology

Tools

Blow torches

• Motorized cutting torches
• Pattern cutting torches
• Welding torches

Gas welding or brazing or cutting apparatus

• Brazing equipment
• Heliarc welding equipment
• Oxyacetylene welding equipment
• Portable gas operated arc welders

Welders

• Arc welders
• Mobile welding units
• Resistance welding equipment
• Semiautomatic flame-cutting equipment

Welding masks

• Hand shields
• Welding masks
• Welding shields

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