The Welding Academy recently created by Harland and Wolff (H&W), and supported by the Department for Employment and Learning, is helping to strengthen the local skills base at one of our most important engineering businesses, Dr Bill McGinnis, Northern Ireland’s Adviser on Employment and Skills, has said.
He was speaking during a visit to the Yard and praised Harland and Wolff for working closely with local colleges to establish a Welding Academy Centre of Excellence in developing an important resource for manufacturing in Northern Ireland.
Robert Cooper, H&W Chief Executive Officer, briefed Dr McGinnis about the ‘Welding Academy approach’ during a visit to the shipyard, now a global centre for the offshore oil, gas and renewable energy sectors.
Dr McGinnis, who is also the Northern Ireland member of the influential UK Commission on Employment and Skills, which advises the Government on skills and training policy and initiatives, said: “The new H&W Welding Academy is an immensely important initiative that will enable the company to create a resource of people qualified to the highest standards of a skill in great demand in both engineering and general manufacturing sectors.
“Skills like this really matter, they make a real difference. For individuals, improved skills increase the likelihood of gaining and being in employment and they improve the prospect of obtaining higher wages. And for employers, improved skills lead to business efficiencies, productivity gains, lower labour turnover and ultimately increased profits.
“As well as meeting the shipyard’s own fluctuating demand for expert welding skills, the investment in people could provide tangible benefits for other local manufacturers. Indeed, I believe there’s a strong case for H&W to be encouraged and supported to develop further this initiative. Experience shows that welders who have met H&W’s exacting standards readily find employment in other engineering companies’ especially smaller businesses.
“Creating a resource of such highly skilled welders would help measures to promote the growth of manufacturing here,” added Dr McGinnis.
Outlining the thinking behind the formation of the new Welding Academy, Mr Cooper said: “We see this development as a way to both strengthen our skill base in the yard and to help reduce our dependence on welders from abroad. We were concerned about the decline locally in this crucially important skill and decided to address it by means of this recently launched initiative.
“The academy involves training partnerships with Belfast Metropolitan and Northern Regional colleges of further education. The trainees spend eight weeks in the colleges learning about and practising welding followed by two weeks with us in developing their expertise to meet our specific requirements. Then they have to pass a very rigorous inspection to achieve the necessary accreditation for work in the offshore sector.
“The first group of trainees has completed the process and are now carrying out welding work here on site. Our plan is to recruit a further group of trainees in the near future,” added Mr Cooper.
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