Certification Mythbusters
There are a lot of common misconceptions regarding competence certification in the industry. You’ll even find key individuals in the offshore industry who believe them.
Here, we examine two of the biggest – and the reality behind them.
A Supervisor Must Have a ‘Certificate of Competence’ as a Supervisor.
Not so; under IMCA guidelines a Supervisor (such as an ROV Supervisor) may have any one of the following:
- Senior Pilot Technician certificate of competence (this is the entry criteria for the Supervisor grade) – He/she has just been promoted and is working towards his certificate of competence as a Supervisor
- ROV Supervisors certificate of competence – He/she is experienced and has demonstrated competence at this grade
- ROV Superintendents certificate of competence – He/she may be a freelance worker taking a job as an ROV Supervisor. They will already have had a record of competence as an ROV Supervisor to become a Superintendent
“I Have an IMCA Accredited Certificate of Competence”
Not so; IMCA do not accredit certificates of competence.
- IMCA do accredit certificates of training for Divers/Diver Supervisors & Life Support Technicians, a role formerly held by the HSE.
- Certificates of competence issued by any IMCA member company should follow IMCA guidelines C002 to C005 (as appropriate), C007 & C0015.
- MTCS’s certificates of competence follow the above IMCA guidelines in addition to the UK national code of practice and process for vocationally assessed qualifications.
