Rules, certificates and responsibility in industrial technology
What you need in place before you can work with the machines
Industrial technician is not a trade with one major authorisation requirement as you know it from the electrical and plumbing sector where you must have an authorisation to be allowed to carry out the work. But there are still rules, certificates and requirements you must know — both some that apply to everyone in the training and some that are linked to the machines and processes you work with.
§Certificates you take in the education
As part of the apprenticeship you must obtain some mandatory certificates before you can move further in the course. They are about being able to work and respond safely in a workshop where there are powerful machines and hot processes.
- 01First aid — so you can act correctly if a colleague is injured
- 02Basic fire fighting — being able to extinguish a small fire and respond correctly.
§Machine safety and unexpected start
Work with lathe, milling machines, drilling and CNC machines is regulated by occupational health and safety rules. The machines must have the right guards and safety functions, and you must be instructed before you operate them. Part of your training is learning the rules for clamping, guarding and emergency stop — and following them every time.
§Quality, measurement and documentation
Industrial engineering is about hitting goals and tolerances precisely. That is why measurement control and documentation are a fixed part of the work — you must be able to show that a part is manufactured within the dimensions agreed on the drawing. At workplaces that deliver to, for example the medical energy or defence industry the demands for traceability and quality management are extra high because an error can have serious consequences.
Drawings and standards
You work from technical drawings where measurements, tolerances and surface requirements are specified according to fixed rules and standards. Being able to read a drawing correctly — and understand what the tolerances mean for how the part should be manufactured — is a fundamental part of professionalism.
§Who sets the rules for the field?
The education's content and goals are set by the professional committee in the industrial sector in cooperation with the authorities. They decide what competencies an industrial technician should have and what the journeyman's test should look like. The rules are updated continuously so education keeps up with technology and industry needs.
“In precision manufacturing, a tolerance is not a detail — it is the difference between a part that fits and one that is scrapped.”