Specialised Joint Integrity Training for Commercial Divers

21 December 2011

Renowned global joint integrity and engineering services company Hydratight, has formed a strategic partnership with one of the world’s leading commercial diver training schools.

Hydratight and the UK-based Professional Diving Academy will collaborate on specialist courses aimed at improving the skills required to achieve subsea joint integrity, as well as enhancing diver safety during the unique processes involved with this type of activity.

The partnership aims to fill a gap in the current training provision for industrial divers, initially offering a course on the subsea use of bolting tools with extensive underwater practical tuition – the only course of its kind in the world.

Currently the biggest problem for divers is that much of their formal training in the use of subsea bolting and jointing equipment has to take place on dry land, or more commonly during a haphazard and sometimes disjointed training regime conducted by experienced divers, usually whilst a contract is running.

"There simply hasn’t been anywhere for divers to learn how to operate specialist tools underwater from experts - and these aren’t skills that should be learned on the job,” said Hydratight’s global competency leader, Jason Barnard.

"When bolt tensioners, torque wrenches and other powered equipment are taken underwater, everything changes: weight, handling, the forces employed, the time taken and many more critical factors, are all different.

"Generally engineers don’t go underwater because they aren’t divers and divers don’t know the best use of the equipment because they aren’t experts in the procedures and tools.

"We aim to bridge that gap by offering specialist training where it should be delivered – both in the classroom and underwater in conditions that are realistic to the jobsite, including highly restricted visibility.”

The Professional Diving Academy, offers Health and Safety Executive (HSE) accredited commercial diver training for delegates from across the world, including externally audited subsea construction and inspection courses. They have developed an envied reputation for delivering highly advanced courses and have once again recognised and responded to an apparent and critical gap in specilised subsea skills training. The organisation very quickly identified Hydratight through its expertise and commitment to technical training, which has received widespread acclaim, as the ideal strategic partner.

"With several high profile deepwater hydrocarbon leaks making international headlines in recent months, we feel that divers should have a mechanism that allows them to train on this highly specialist equipment and associated procedures in the proper working environment,” said PDA’s Training Manager Neil MacMillan.

Both organisations anticipate that courses will be available in early 2012 run by Hydratight and PDA experts at the academy’s extensive wet and dry training facilities in Dunoon, Scotland and through a strategic network of training facilities worldwide. For further information, please visit www.professionaldivingacademy.com and Hydratight www.hydratight.com/en?l=en