TS 12790

TS 12790 is a professional standard for the heat treater occupation in metals and alloys. It defines the job, sets out its classification, and addresses the minimum tools and equipment used in the profession, together with the evaluation of the characteristics expected from personnel in each class.

Technical context of heat treating work

Heat treatment is the controlled heating and cooling of metals to adjust properties such as hardness, strength, ductility, and microstructure. In practical terms, a heat treater is the specialist who applies the process sequence correctly and monitors variables such as temperature, time, and atmosphere with care. The focus of this standard is the profession itself and how competence is described and assessed, rather than the metallurgy of any single product.

Main elements covered by the standard

• Definition and classification of the profession
• Minimum tools and equipment for heat treating work
• Measurement of the profession-related characteristics expected from each class
• A framework for evaluating those characteristics

In everyday industrial use, heat treatment includes processes such as hardening, tempering, annealing, and stress relieving, especially for steels. Successful results depend not only on furnaces and equipment but also on the operator’s ability to understand how the material will respond. TS 12790 provides a shared technical basis for describing the occupation and assessing personnel in a consistent way.