ADAS, in cooperation with representatives of the South Australian and NSW Workcover Authorities, has developed a Diving Supervisor training and assessment scheme which will meet the needs of the onshore diving industry and the requirements of state and territory diving regulators.
In developing the scheme, ADAS has been mindful of the State and Territory OH&S legislative provisions, in particular the requirements that employers must provide employees with supervision to ensure their health and safety, and ensure that such supervision is undertaken by a competent person.
In the past, establishing the competency of diving supervisors has been difficult for employers, and there has been no means for Diving Supervisors to demonstrate their competency to an employer. There has been no formal training assessment or certificate of competency available for diving supervisors. ADAS has moved to meet this need by providing specific competence training and assessment for diving supervisors.
The training and assessment addresses the following areas of competence:
- diving physics and physiology and associated safety issues
- diving illnesses and medical emergencies
- effective communication as a dive supervisor
- implementation and monitoring of occupational health and safety programs
- legislation and guidance
- supervising dive teams
- dive equipment and procedures
- planning dive operations
- conducting dive operations
- using power tools and explosives in a dive operation (Part 2 and 3 only)
- operating compression chamber in a remote location (Part 3 only)
- wet bell diving and emergency procedures (Part 3 only)
Applicants to undertake Supervisor training and assessment must be experienced ADAS divers but a current diving medical certificate is not required.
