IMCA Newsroom

Press Release 09/04

IMCA & OLF COLLABORATION WILL BRING ADDED SAFETY & EFFICIENCY TO OFFSHORE DIVING

Norway and the United Kingdom have their own sets of legislation and guidance to which respective diving contractors in the offshore oil industry have to abide. When crews and equipment from one country are required to operate in the other's waters, it is necessary to meet the local regulatory requirements. If a vessel crosses from one country's waters to the other, it will need to meet both sets of requirements simultaneously.

Two key offshore industry organisations, IMCA - the International Marine Contractors Association - and OLF - Oljeindustriens Landsforening, the Norwegian Oil Industry Association - have collaborated to produce new guidance aimed at facilitating the use of diving vessels and resources between UK and Norwegian jurisdictions and thus add safety and efficiency to offshore diving operations by developing a common approach.

"Both countries have their own set of legislation and guidance to which the respective diving contractors in the offshore oil industry have to abide," explains IMCA's Technical Director, Jane Bugler. "Our bridging document - 'Norway/UK Regulatory Guidance for Offshore Diving' (NURGOD) has been developed to provide standardisation of procedures and approaches for managing the regulatory differences between the two nations. We believe this should ease the operational process for offshore diving across the North Sea.

"NURGOD is based on a gap analysis, which was undertaken to review and document the differences between the two regimes. Based on that analysis, good practice guidance on the management of transfer of diving operations between the two sectors has been developed. The development saw involvement by and consultation with a number of bodies, including industry, regulators and unions. It is intended to review the use of the document periodically and update it accordingly, so we wholeheartedly welcome feedback."

The new publication, now available from IMCA, is designed to assist personnel involved in diving operations; client's staff involved in the preparation of bid documents and contracts; client and diving contractor representatives; vessel owners and marine crews involved with diving operations; and all personnel involved in operational management. There are sections on administrative requirements; health, working environment and safety; personnel qualification requirements; technical requirements; operational requirements; and emergency and contingency equipment.

Notes to Editors (common)

• IMCA is an international association with over 450 members in more than 50 countries, representing offshore, marine and underwater engineering companies. IMCA has four technical divisions, covering marine/specialist vessel operations, offshore diving, hydrographic survey and remote systems and ROVs, plus geographic sections for the Americas Deepwater, Asia-Pacific, Europe & Africa and Middle East & India regions, as well as a core focus on safety, the environment, competence and training. IMCA seeks to promote its members' common interests, to resolve industry-wide issues and to provide an authoritative voice for its members.
• IMCA publishes some 200 guidance notes and technical reports. These have been developed over the years and are widely distributed. They are a definition of what IMCA stands for, including widely recognised diving and ROV codes of practice, DP documentation, marine good practice guidance, the Common Marine Inspection Document, safety recommendation, outline training syllabi and the IMCA competence scheme guidance. In addition to the range of printed guidance documents, IMCA also produces safety promotional materials, circulates information notes and safety flashes.
• Judith Patten is here to help you if you want any additional information on IMCA; would like to discuss a feature article; want to organise interviews with key members of the IMCA team, etc.