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- Development of Diver Certification Board of Canada gaining speed
Development of Diver Certification Board of Canada gaining speed
- By © UnderwaterINDUSTRY .com
- Published 08/2/2002
- Regulations and Standards
- Unrated
The development of the Diver Certification Board of Canada is proceeding well and they expect to be in operation by the end of this calendar year. The DCBC is now a federally incorporated non-profit body which holds a long-term lease on an office in downtown Halifax office on the corner of Lower Water and Sackville Streets.
The DCBC recently received approval and operating funding from the Canada Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board and from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). Indications are that other approvals and more funding will be announced shortly.
The DCBC is in the middle of developing policies and procedures for the certification of commercial divers with the help of diving safety specialists with offshore experience. We have also drafted guidelines for the accreditation of commercial dive schools and are working with a CSA working group to incorporate them into a new diver training standard. At the same time the DCBC is negotiating a memorandum of agreement with the Experimental Diving Unit at Defense R&D Canada – Toronto (formerly known as DCIEM) to be the body of experts who will carry out audits of commercial diver training organizations on behalf of DCBC.
In June the Executive Director of the DCBC, David Parkes, made a well-received presentation to a meeting of the OSH sub-committee of the Canadian Association of Administrators of Labour Legislation in which he suggested that the Diver Certification Board of Canada make their certification available to all inshore commercial divers, as well as offshore divers. He has since entered into detailed correspondence with appropriate authorities in British Columbia, Ontario and Newfoundland on this topic.
It is the intention of the DCBC to continue to follow a careful, structured development program. Although they are under some pressure to start certifying divers almost immediately the board of directors of DCBC has decided that they will not certify divers or accredit diver training organizations until all their policies and procedures are developed and all funding agreements are in place.
David Parkes
Executive Director
August 2, 2002
The DCBC recently received approval and operating funding from the Canada Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board and from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). Indications are that other approvals and more funding will be announced shortly.
The DCBC is in the middle of developing policies and procedures for the certification of commercial divers with the help of diving safety specialists with offshore experience. We have also drafted guidelines for the accreditation of commercial dive schools and are working with a CSA working group to incorporate them into a new diver training standard. At the same time the DCBC is negotiating a memorandum of agreement with the Experimental Diving Unit at Defense R&D Canada – Toronto (formerly known as DCIEM) to be the body of experts who will carry out audits of commercial diver training organizations on behalf of DCBC.
In June the Executive Director of the DCBC, David Parkes, made a well-received presentation to a meeting of the OSH sub-committee of the Canadian Association of Administrators of Labour Legislation in which he suggested that the Diver Certification Board of Canada make their certification available to all inshore commercial divers, as well as offshore divers. He has since entered into detailed correspondence with appropriate authorities in British Columbia, Ontario and Newfoundland on this topic.
It is the intention of the DCBC to continue to follow a careful, structured development program. Although they are under some pressure to start certifying divers almost immediately the board of directors of DCBC has decided that they will not certify divers or accredit diver training organizations until all their policies and procedures are developed and all funding agreements are in place.
David Parkes
Executive Director
August 2, 2002