These days, you can fly to Fremantle in Western Australia and
obtain an internationally recognised diving qualification at what
is probably the best diver training school in the world - and still
pay less than you would for a similar course here in the UK. But it
wasn't always necessary to travel quite that far to get a good diving
qualification.
In the early days of North Sea hydrocarbon exploration, the fatality
rate amongst divers working offshore was appalling. It was at it's
worst during the mid 70's when, every year, around 10% of the offshore
diving workforce died in work-related accidents in the North Sea.
At that time, divers received virtually no training and effective
regulation was a joke. Something had to change.
The British Government's Health & Safety Executive (HSE) was compelled
to accept the poison chalice. It produced and enforced regulations
designed to mitigate the awful attrition rate and to protect the safety
of divers working in the North Sea - and the HSE diving qualifications
were finally introduced. All companies undertaking diving operations
in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) were obliged to employ
only divers who had been trained to these new HSE guidelines. And
for a while, our diving operations, safety and training standards
were the envy of the world. But sadly the international spot-light
is again turning upon us, and this time it's focused on the quality
of our diver training standards.
However, other countries continue to excel. In the United States,
the Association of Diving Contractors (ADC) Diver Certification scheme
is evolving into an internationally recognised standard of competence.
Unlike the government controlled diver training standards in the UK
and Australia, the ADC is essentially a collective of commercial organisations.
Nonetheless, ADC diver training standards are rigorously controlled
and monitored, and errant member companies are severely castigated.
The ADC scheme meets the voluntary American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) standard.
The country whose diver training regulatory system most closely mirrors
the UK's HSE is probably Australia. Twenty years ago, Australia's
offshore safety culture was driven largely by what was happening in
the North Sea. Today, Australia has it's own internationally recognised
training standard, and it intends to preserve it.
It's important to look at this in a historical context. The British
government has no jurisdiction or authority to enforce its HSE standards
outside British waters, nor has it ever sought to do so. However,
until recently, a number of major international offshore operating
companies insisted on divers having a British HSE diving certificate
to the virtual exclusion of other qualifications and regardless of
the geographic location of specific diving operations. The only place
to obtain an HSE qualification was at a UK school.
So, for a time, administrative convenience superseded common sense.
In effect, the operating [commercial] companies promoted the British
government's HSE diving qualification as an international industry
standard and, in so doing, suppressed the development of more appropriate
regional alternatives.
Things are very different now. The international offshore industry's
safety culture has thankfully changed beyond recognition. Competence,
in diver training standards, as in all human operational tasks offshore,
usually takes precedence over administrative convenience. And professionally
trained, safe, competent divers save money - and reputations. We could
learn much from the standard of diver training available at some foreign
training schools and from the way in which they monitor diver training
standards.
Paul Butler is
the Commonwealth Government of Australia's Director of Offshore Safety
and he is determined to preserve Australia's safety record and diver
training standards -
"The ADAS diving qualification is the mechanism through which
we regulate, operate and monitor diver training standards in Australia.
The fact that ADAS qualified divers are now internationally regarded
as amongst the safest and most effectively trained in the world is
a source of great pride to me and my department. Moreover, it is also
a testament to industry's confidence in the ability of ADAS qualified
divers and an endorsement of the Australian schools which train them".
"I regard the control and oversight of Australia's rigorously
high standards of occupational diver training as a critical element
in maintaining our overall diving safety record. The safety record
of diving operations in Australia's offshore petroleum industry is
one of the best in the world".
"Preservation of that enviable record and the appropriate discharge
of it's responsibility to protect the health and safety of those individuals
under its direct care, requires the Commonwealth Government to monitor
and regulate for the ever-changing demands and activities of industry".
"This is especially true in the case of occupational diving where
the training for and execution of work tasks requires exposing the
individual to extreme [controlled] risk".
"Therefore, in an effort to improve the regulation of offshore
diving safety and to foster an industry culture of [continuous] improvement
in the standards of best practice, the Commonwealth Government will
shortly be replacing the old prescriptive "Standing Directions"
on diving safety with new "Objective Based" regulations".
Kevin Lloyd is a British diver who elected
to do his diver training in Australia rather than at home in the UK
-
"I wanted to do my diver training but I couldn't find anybody
to say a good word about the standard of commercial diver training
in the UK today. People train here because they think there's no choice
and they're led to believe that employers world-wide will only accept
HSE qualifications - they're wrong on both counts".
"The diving business has changed a lot. UK and international
employers now recognise the superior training delivered overseas.
I did my training in Australia and I've never come across a situation
where the Australian ADAS certificate is considered unacceptable by
an employer. In fact, most international employers and students know
that some countries now have significantly higher diver training and
standards than those currently available in the UK".
"A lot of divers reckon that we're approaching a situation where
presenting a recently obtained UK diving qualification to a potential
employer exposes the holder of that qualification to the very real
risk of making an admission of sub-standard safety and capability,
rather than evidence of competence and professionalism. What can we
do about that?" It's no wonder employers are beginning to express
a preference for overseas qualified divers - faced with the choice
between certainty and doubt regarding a newly trained diver's safety
and competence, who can blame them?"
"I did my diver training at the Underwater Centre in Fremantle,
Western Australia. Ian Milliner, the guy who runs the Fremantle school,
is a consummate professional and his dedication and competence inspires
every individual in his team - especially the students". I'm
obviously biased, but I genuinely believe that I left Western Australia
having received the best diver training currently available anywhere
in the world today. "I've experienced no difficulty whatsoever
getting UK work with my Australian diving qualifications and I know
that employers on the Pacific Rim accept ADAS qualified divers without
hesitation".
Colin Murphy was Managing Director
of Australia's largest privately owned diving company, Contract Diving
Services (CDS) prior to it's sale to American Oilfield Divers Inc.
He is currently a Director of Australia's fastest growing commercial
diving company, Allied Diving Services -
With over 25 years' experience employing divers for
Australian and international diving operations, Colin Murphy knows
more than most people about the evolution of occupational diving and
the genesis of diver training standards in both Australia and Britain
-
"Our clients here and overseas are as determined as we are
to preserve Australia's safety record". "I've seen the Australian
ADAS diver training standard evolve over the last two decades to achieve
the international acclaim that it richly deserves. As an Australian,
I'm immensely proud of that. As a businessman, the reputation of our
company depends on the competence of the divers we employ. These days,
with newly trained divers, we're not just interested in what certificates
they have but which school they trained at; it can make a huge difference."
For more information contact:
TUCF
8 Rous Head Road, North Fremantle, WA 6159, Australia
Tel: +61 8 9336 3343
FAX: +61 8 9336 3345
Email:
milly@tucf.com.au
