European Federation for Welding, Joining and Cutting

In 1992, welding course providers of several EU countries wanted to harmonise their education, training, qualification and certification procedures.

The objective was that the same qualifications could be awarded in any country by using a single syllabus for each level of the training course and a harmonized system for examinations.

EWF developed a comprehensive and harmonized system for training, qualification and certification of welding personnel and managed its application ever since.

[1] The challenges addressed by EWF are two-fold: Respond to the industry's professional profile requirements and provide courses that leverage current technological trends and their impact on evolving lifestyles and information acquisition patterns.

Currently (2018), EWF has members from 28 European countries and two observer members from outside Europe, represented by their national welding societies: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, as well as Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.

A certification system has been developed to guarantee manufacturer compliance with EN ISO 3834 and environmental and health safety schemes and its implementation is harmonized within EWF members.

Mrs Ferraz has an international professional career of over 25 years in Quality Management in Italy, Brasil and Argentina and at present also is Director of the Training Department at ISQ – Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade.