SMAW GRADUATES

*January 7 - January 25,2008
Batch 66

ERNESTO DOMONDON,JR.
JOHN PAUL MANGLICMOT
HAYDEE FERNANDEZ
RIMAN DIMAN NEPUNE
GERRY DAYAPERA
JOEL DE GUZMAN
JULIUS PADILLA
ROBERTO IGUICO,JR.
RAMON REYES
ARNEL DOMONDON
DAVE SAN DIEGO
PAQUITO MUSNI,JR.
MICHAEL BORJA
BLESSIE ALDANA
ALLAN EDIP
MANUEL ESPERA
RICHARD SAJUL
CLAUDE HALL,JR.
LIRIO BANIEL
JEMALIN CUSTODIA
GEMMA TORCINO
MARIO MORZO
JERRY QUIMERISTA
EDUARDSON BUNTING
RONNEL SEVILLENA
RONALDO MENOR
FERDINAND MIGUEL
RICHARD QUIJOY
JOHN MARK LORILLA
RENE ALINDOG
BRIAN MISA

High demand for welders worldwide

There is a rising demand for skilled welders in various workplaces worldwide. And this is good news for Filipino welders seeking employment overseas.

This demand for welders was reported to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) by Yangwha Human Resources Corporation, a Manila-based overseas placement firm which deploys Filipino welders to contractors of oil and gas refineries and power plants in the Middle East.

In a report to Secretary Augusto Boboy Syjuco, TESDA director general, Acela Quibrantar, president of Yangwha, informed TESDA of the good employment prospects for welders trained under the PGMA Training for Work Scholarships (PGMA-TWSP) project.

Quibrantar said that her company has a total of 509 welder-scholar graduates of PGMA-TWSP project now ready for deployment to their job principals in the Middle East, Korea, Australia and Canada.

Of this number, 494 have competencies in gas metal arc welding (GMAW) and 115 in shielded metal arc welding (SMAW).

TESDA records, according to Secretary Syjuco, show that some 179 welders of both GMAW and SMAW qualifications- all graduates of the PGMA-TWSP- have been placed abroad. They are now working in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, Russia, Australia, and Korea.

In her letter, Quibrantar thanked and acknowledged TESDA’s help in equipping Filipino welders with world-class skills for high-paying jobs abroad.

“We sincerely thank TESDA for trusting us that we will be able to help Filipinos improve their economic and social status through skills development and job placement, “Quibrantar said.

Secretary Syjuco also announced that TESDA has included the training in gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) in the list of courses supported under the PGMA-TWSP project.

Previously only GMAW and SMAW welding training are included in the PGMA scholarship. The scholarship cost for each of the two courses is P7, 000 and P10, 000 respectively. Both courses are covered by National Certificate II qualifications.

Welders with GTAW qualifications, according to Yangwha officials, are more in demand abroad and command higher pay.

TESDA has approved training regulations for National Certificates II and IV for gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW).

Aside from overseas job placement, Yangwha also administers a TESDA-accredited training and assessment center. The company has established job markets in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, and Korea.


Secretary Augusto Boboy Syjuco (center)poses with a lady welder trainee and trainor at the TESDA Women’s Center in Taguig City

TESDA News and Features

Incident Report

Hanjin Subic Shipyard, Drydock No. 5, January 18, 2008 11am : Explosion was heard at the Propeller Alley (This is a compartment at the AFT, STERN, or TAIL portion of the ship)

Fatalities:

Jeremias Adamos – Barretto, Olongapo ( Family from Subic)
Mario Laxamana – Morong, Bataan

Injured:

Jonathan Martinez – Banicain, Olongapo
Gilbert Ruba – Kalalake, Olongapo (from Tarlac)
Donald Elijan – Castillejos, Zambales (All 3 confined at St. Jude Hospital)
1 Korean National and another Filipino w/ minor hand injury.
Many Filipino co-workers were traumatized by the incident.

According to the survivors:

They are working at the rudder and propeller section of the ship: fitting-cutting-welding-grinding inside a closed compartment.

Adamos and Laxamana are working (grinding) overhead, 10 to 12 feet above them.

Martinez and Ruba noticed that there are oil spills on the deck which came from the cleaning operation on the propeller.

The survivors believe that sparks from cutting and grinding operation which fell on the oil started the fire.

Other witness accounts however claimed that the sparks actually fell on the acetylene gas rubber hose.

The punctures on the hose created by hot molten metals caused the flammable gas to leak.

This gas leak, built-up in the propeller-alley compartment during their 10am breaktime.

When they returned for work at 11am, the compartment is already saturated by a highly combustible gas. An accident waiting to happen.

A spark from either welding, grinding or cutting operation ignited the combustible gas which caused the explosion and the fire.

Comments/Recommendations:

• There was no Safety Officer and/or “Fire Watch” in the vicinity while the work was going on.
• The Safety Officer should have conducted “Gas-Free Inspection” prior to start of work.
• Shipyard workers should be alert all the time, keeping their area clean and clear of hazards. The fatalities were not able to escape the fire because their bodies were entangled in the electrical wires (temporary lighting & extension cords) which were not properly organized inside the compartment.


FINAL ANALYSIS:

Since the survivors insisted that the flame actually started from the oily surface of the deck and that they have not smelled traces of combustible gas in the compartment (which would have alerted them when they returned to work after breaktime), this means that oxygen was the gas that leaked.

An oxygen-rich environment would make an ordinary oil highly-flammable.

Possible Causes of this situation are:

1. Defective Oxygen Valve.

2. Somebody deliberately opened the oxygen valve in order to introduce fresh air into the closed compartment or to flush-out smoke from welding operation (A big mistake by untrained personnel).

3. The oxygen rubber hose was accidentally punctured either by hot molten metal from welding sparks or had been mechanically damaged when hit by a sharp/heavy metal/plate.

RE-TRAINING IN SHIPYARD SAFETY IS OBVIOUSLY IN ORDER.

The writer, Olongapo Skills Training Director, Edwin Piano, have more than 20 years of shipyard experience both locally and overseas. He conducts Safety Training for welders endorsed by Mayor James "Bong" Gordon, Jr to Hanjin shipbuilding project.

Bright job prospects for welders

IF YOU'RE A WELDER OUT OF WORK; HEAD TO SUBIC

Ever wondered where have all the welders gone?

Thousands of them are now employed by Hanjin at its shipyard in Redondon Peninsula, Zambales, that’s where.

According to Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio R. Bunye, the country’s “best welders are now employed by Hanjin at its Zambales shipbuilding complex, the world’s fourth largest.

The Korean shipbuilding giant plans to build five ships a month, 60 ships a year, “and that requires a lot of welders,” Bunye said.

That’s only for starters, he added, as the labor market for welders is bound to expand significantly when Hanjin opens its shipbuilding facility in Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental.

Last Thursday (Jan. 10), President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo witnessed in Cagayan de Oro City the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOU) between Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co., Ltd. (HHICC) and Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA) on the construction of a US$ 2-billion shipbuilding facility in Cagayan de Oro City.

The President gleefully noted that the new investment clearly reflected the favorable outlook for the country in the international community.

She pointed out that from 2003 to 2006, foreign investments in the Philippines grew five-fold and continued to increase at a double-digit rate last year.

“This surge of investments has been anchored by billion-dollar plus investments by several major international companies, not only Hanjin but also Texas Instruments in Clark, Marubeni and AES in the power sexctor and Mittal Global’s upcoming integrated steel mill in Iligan City, among others,” the President said.

Hanjin’s second shipbuilding complex will be established inside the 3,000-hectare Phividec Industrial Estate in Misamis Oriental.

The President said that when fully operational, the facility would employ up to 40,000 workers. Undoubtedly, many of them will be welders. (PNA)

Alternative learning’ earns dollars

About 15 Capiceños who have been enrolled in the government’s partnership program under the Alternative Learning System (ALS) are already dollar-earners.

Education Supervisor and ALS Coordinator Inmaculada Ocbena of the Department of Education (DepEd) of Capiz Division disclosed that 15 of their graduates in welding and masonry in Mambusao West and Tapaz, Capiz are already working abroad.

Ocbena said that since last year, 38 individuals finished their course in welding, 42 in masonry and 57 in electricity. in Mambusao West alone.

She said that said government program in Capiz was in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Association of Construction of Informal Workers (ACIW) which conducts the intensive skills training and development, the local government unit (LGU) that provides the financial support, as well as the DepEd.

Recently, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said that the country’s “best welders are now employed by Hanjin at its Zambales shipbuilding complex, the world’s fourth largest.

He revealed that the Korean shipbuilding giant plans to build five ships a month, 60 ships a year, “and that requires a lot of welders.”

That’s only for starters, he said, as the labor market for welders is bound to expand significantly when Hanjin opens its shipbuilding facility in Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental.

Hanjin’s second shipbuilding complex will be established inside the 3,000- hectare Phividec Industrial Estate in Misamis Oriental.

When fully operational, the facility would employ up to 40,000 workers, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said, stressing that undoubtedly, many of said workers will be welders

Welding Training Program

Gordon College and Mayor Gordon's Welding Academy continue providing welding trainings for Olongapeños.

The 2007 Accomplishment Report of Skills Training Center Director and City Councilor Edwin Piano forwarded to the Mayor's Office says several trainees have already completed various stages of training, as follows: 4,051 trainees on the Shipbuilding Orientation; 2,154 trainees on the Career Workshop Seminar; 312 trainees on the Flux Cord Arch Welding Seminar, 115 trainees on the Basic Computer Literacy; and 107 trainees on the Shielded Metal Arc Welding Level II.

The report also states that a number of trainees are now employed: 2,154 at Hanjin Shipbuilding; 103 at the Hanjin Construction; 240 at the different companies in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone (SBFZ) and 200 are now outside the Philippines.

Recently, 200 trainees passed the screening and initial interview for job opportunities in Australia.

Meanwhile, Gordon College (GC) President Dr. Arlida Pame, in the Literacy Program of the City Public Library at the Bureau of Jail and Management and Penology (BJMP) encouraged inmates to avail of the GC's free welding training.

Mayor Gordon enticed the inmates to inform their family members and relatives regarding the said training, "Ipaalam ninyo sa inyong mga asawa, anak at kapatid na tumungo sa City Hall at magpatala sa welding training upang sa gayo'y makatulong sa pamilya kapag natanggap na sa trabaho," wika ni Mayor Gordon.

The Skills Training Program of the City Government is accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). It provides a free yet high quality educational training and even behavioral, physical mental and emotional capabilities to the trainees.

why it is very difficult to find welders?

THE VIEW FROM THE PALACE
By Ignacio Bunye

Have you ever wondered why it is very difficult to find welders?

The simple reason is that thousands of our best welders are now employed by Hanjin shipyards in Redondo Peninsula in Zambales. The fourth largest shipbuilding facility in the world expects to build 60 ships a year, 5 ships a month, and that requires a lot of welders. And we are just talking of Zambales. Wait till Hanjin opens its shipbuilding facility in Cagayan de Oro City. This week, President Arroyo witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Hanjin Heavy Industries and the Phividec Industrial Authority for the construction of a $2 Billion shipbuilding complex.

TESDA will have its hands full trying to train the manpower needed for such huge complex let alone supply the needs of the construction industry.

Plastic Welding

GrainPro manufacturing in the Philippines

GrainPro's Board of Directors has approved a plan to establish a modern plastic welding plant in the Philippines. For this purpose a local subsidiary has been established "GrainPro Philippines, Inc. " which will operate from the Subic Bay area, former US naval base and now Free Trade Zone, North of Manila.

By the middle of this year the plant will be operational and the GrainPro office will move from Manila to Subic Bay as well. State of the art welding equipment will ensure a high quality product and a larger output.