Around twenty amateur and professional welders took the competition in Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban this Friday, January 17 to hope to win their place in the final for the best welder in France.
They hope to become the best welders in France. This Friday, January 17, around twenty amateur and professional welders took the competition in Château-Arnoux-St-Auban (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) to hope to win their place in the final for the best welder in France.
There were more than 700 originally claiming the title. A few weeks ago, 457 took the theoretical test in the form of multiple choice questions and there are only around 360 left to take the practical part in each region of France.
30 minutes to prove yourself
This Friday, around twenty welders working in the South region made the trip to participate in the practical part of the competition to become the best welders in France. Once the tools have been chosen, the welders find themselves alone in their box in the premises of Eiffage Energie Systèmes – Clemessy Services in Château-Arnoux-St-Auban, where the atmosphere is studious.
They have 30 minutes to make the best weld, or an hour if they have chosen several welding categories. Once the parts are completed, the candidates are graded both visually and mechanically, and everyone hopes to obtain the title of best welder in France.
Quentin is participating for the second time: coming 4th in his category last year, he aims to do better, because he knows that even with 26 years of experience, he can always improve. “We don't have enough of a lifetime to know our job, there are so many different materials and processes that we are always learning,” explains the welder to BFM DICI.
“Hyper technique”
For Gaëlle, on the other hand, this competition is a first: “I want to confront others and I want to show that as a woman, we have the skills for this profession. It's super technical, you always have to be on top,” she explains.
Like Gaëlle, more and more women are passionate about the welding profession: in a few years, the percentage of female welders has increased to today reach almost 10%, a good thing for the profession which is always seeking to recruit.
-“Among the strategy that we are adopting is feminization. Today, welding professions are professions requiring a lot of expertise, dexterity and ultimately, women have their rightful place in these professions. industry”, explains Benjamin Di Vona, director of the south-east region for Eiffage Energie system Clemessy service. “We are a profession which is rather in shortage and especially here in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, the dynamics have been quite complicated in recent years, with many training sectors which have been destroyed”, he continues. .
Bringing the professional sector back into the spotlight
With this competition, the organizers hope to restore the desire to discover the profession. “The idea was born one evening, with a colleague, we wondered what we could do for welders, which could highlight them both on their activity and on their passion, and without necessarily having the “obligation of a professional status or an age limit”, explains Christophe Lagarde, organizer of the best welders in France.
“The idea was also to highlight the welding profession, which had been losing momentum a little in recent years. So since the third edition, it also allows people to understand that the industry can also be a way to have fun professionally, and sometimes also to earn more money than at the time, because today salaries are being increased and it is above all also to perpetuate our activity. because unfortunately if we do not communicate on this, the young people are not necessarily interested. We are also aiming for professional retraining,” maintains the organizer.
In March, all the parts of participants from all over France will be examined by a jury of 8 welding inspectors.
“They will choose the best parts using standardized control methods. We don’t choose a part just because it is beautiful, we also check the mechanical characteristics” explains Christophe Lagarde.
At the end of this selection, 60 selected will participate in the national final in June, hoping to win the title of best welder in the five possible categories this year.
