The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has launched its pilot Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scheme for diving supervisors.
The App based scheme is said to incorporate the very latest in training techniques and is available in IOS, Android, tablet and PC formats.
Trials of the App are now ready to begin in earnest. A representative cross-section of diving supervisors from leading contractors in the industry is being invited to participate in the consultation and testing process to ensure the system is user-friendly, appropriate, and effective.
Following the trials and assessment processes, the ambition is to go-live to IMCA’s global diving community in Q2 2020.
IMCA said it has consulted with its membership and the development and governance of the system has been overseen by IMCA’s Diving Division Management Committee, comprising industry diving managers and experts.
Bryan McGlinchy , IMCA’s diving manager, said:
“ This is a welcome addition to our flagship diving supervisor schemes and makes a tremendous contribution to modernising CPD in this sector of industry. These safety critical roles will now benefit from the best available technologies to help keep supervisory staff fully up-to-date with regulations, industry guidelines and best operating practices through a series of interactive tutorials and assessment routines. This is a significant step forward in maintaining competence, combating skill-fade, and keeping people safe.
“We envisage an eighteen-month bedding-in period, after which from January 2022 IMCA will only recognise diving supervisors who maintain their CPD records using the app .”
The scheme will be open only to qualified IMCA Diving Supervisors and to those from the Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme (ADAS) and the Diver Certification Board of Canada (DCBC).