The Petroleum Commission, under the auspices of the Ministry of Energy has evaluated the cause of the huge number of expatriate welders in the oil and gas sector. The results revealed that, although there are thousands (1000s) of Ghanaian welders available, especially in the informal sector, however, most of the local welders do not have the internationally recognized training and certification needed to work in the oil and gas industry. Formal welding training is therefore imperative for capacity building because it is the foundation of all engineering and fabrication activities.
Accredited certification indisputably demonstrates compliance to a management system standard. Hence, the Ghana Welding Bureau was recently established to provide certifications to Ghanaian welders, comparable to their counterparts in other countries. The objective is to give oil and gas companies and stakeholders greater assurance that the competence of locally trained welders has been assessed and confirmed by an internationally recognized accreditation body. This will accelerate the Government’s policy on job role localisation and to achieve and maintain a degree of control for Ghanaians in the industry.
This session will highlight the prospects and challenges of establishing an internationally recognised certification body in-country and the strategies to be adopted to localise technical positions in the industry.
