The award-winning Western Sydney engineering firm opened the centre, for welder qualification and upskilling, just this month, having received certification to teach three highly specialised courses aimed at qualifying welders for work in the areas of infrastructure, mining and defence work both here and overseas.
“We had originally planned to open the centre towards the end of the year, but the ever-increasing demand for welders has led to us opening early,” PMG CEO Jason Elias said.
“We can now offer qualification in AS 5131 CC3, which is predominantly infrastructure related. This will qualify specialist welders to work predominantly in structural steel construction work on things such as airports freeways and roads.
“With the huge developments taking off around Western Sydney, the need for qualified welders has intensified.
“We also offer ISO 3834 Part 2 for welding on all grades of material.vThis paves the way for work in the mining and defence industries – both huge employers of skilled welders.
“The third class of training we have is for DIN2303 Q2, which is a German military standard for armoured vehicle welding.
“This qualification opens doors for work with the armed forces in Australia and overseas.”
While the centre will be used to train PMG’s own workforce, it is also open to the general public for enrolment.
"A TAFE course can be a good start for a welder, but there is a huge need for quality trained tradesmen for industries with special requirements,” Mr Elias said.
“We provide AS NZS 1554 and ISO9606 training, so welders can qualify to proceed to the more specialised courses and bring their skillset up to international standards.
“This injection of specialist welders will enable Australia to not only provide welded materials internally without having to rely on imports, but also to even export our own materials.”
Mr Elias said while many companies offered on the job training for welders, having a dedicated training in situ was vital in keeping the workforce up to date with the very latest techniques and standards.
“We can train these specialist welders here – we are capable – and our goods will no longer need to be approved by an international consortium,” he said.
Mr Elias will left in September for a three-week European business tour, where he will expand the company’s horizons and source new clients, particularly in the area of defence.
