EFC Working Party 7: Corrosion Education

Personnel combating Corrosion

The designation of personnel involved in combating corrosion depends upon their particular activity. In order to indicate the suitability of the various teaching aids and texts referred to in this publication for particular types of training, four commonly used categories of corrosion personnel have been identified, as follows:

GROUP A: CORROSION SCIENTISTS/ENGINEERS - those who increase the understanding of the mechanism of corrosion. Persons such as chemists, metallurgists, physicists, engineers, etc. who are carrying out research and teaching in the field of corrosion and protection.

GROUP B: CORROSION TECHNOLOGISTS - those qualified by education and experience to apply available knowledge to corrosion protection in:
     (a) existing structures and processes
     (b) new structures and processes.
The corrosion technologist, who must collaborate with the corrosion scientist, should have a good understanding of scientific principles and should be capable of applying these to practical problems. Examples are:
     (i) corrosion engineers, corrosion protection consultants, cathodic protection specialists and
     (ii) materials engineers, chemical engineers, design engineers, maintenance and plant supervisors.

GROUP C: CORROSION TECHNICIANS - those whose education and training qualify them to implement decisions made by the corrosion technologists, or to carry out experimental work under supervision of a corrosion scientist.
Technicians will normally work under supervision, and will be concerned with design, surveys, inspection, commissioning plant, control, laboratory and field testing, etc.

GROUP D: OPERATIVES - those who carry out the actual work in the field under the supervision of the corrosion technician.


Thus, in the solution of corrosion problems corrosion scientists and engineers, technologists and technicians invariably collaborate - it is recognised that there will be considerable overlap and that any person working primarily in one group will probably have interests and activities in other groups. The distinction is one of perspective, rather than level of skill.

In addition to those whose professional activities lie in combating corrosion it is important that engineers of all types should become more aware of the possible dangers from corrosion and of the methods used for corrosion protection. For this category the syllabus and literature proposed for groups B and C below should be taken as a guide.