Press Release

IMCA MEMBERS BENEFIT FROM COMPETENCE ASSURANCE & ASSESSMENT SCHEMES

The International Marine Contractors Association's (IMCA) competence assurance and assessment guidance was launched in 1999 to provide their marine contracting members around the world with a framework within which to demonstrate the competence of their safety-critical personnel to clients and regulators. Now revised IMCA Guidance on the schemes has been published as an additional aid.

As well as providing a framework within which members can produce their own competence scheme, the revised document also provides implementation guidance on new personnel entering a competence scheme, experienced personnel entering a competence scheme for the first time, and on existing personnel within a company scheme. It also includes guidance on completing the IMCA Record of Competence.

IMCA continues to help its members implement their competence assurance and assessment schemes and to work towards ever-greater understanding of the scheme as a whole. "It is certainly paying dividends for member companies," says IMCA's Technical Director, Jane Bugler. "Their clients are, increasingly, needing guarantees of competence - IMCA members are therefore well prepared! We are also continuing to organise regular workshops where members can meet to discuss common issues, thus helping them to put workable arrangements in place."

"Although it has necessarily taken some time for IMCA members to implement their in-house schemes based on this framework, I believe that the effort put in to set up these schemes has been worthwhile and will deliver real benefits in improved safety," says Steve Preston of Heerema Marine Contractors and IMCA President 2003-4 in the Foreword to the revised and newly published 'IMCA Guidance on Competence Assurance & Assessment Schemes'.

"During the past five years, there has been an increasing global emphasis on the importance of using competent personnel and this is set to continue," he writes. "Our framework, with its focus on workplace assessment, where skills and behaviour are considered, as well as its international perspective, provides a suitable mechanism for the demonstration of competence now demanded internationally in the offshore industry."

The framework covers safety-critical positions identified within the four technical divisions of IMCA - Marine, Diving, Offshore Survey and Remote Systems & ROV. Due to the diverse nature of the needs and positions covered by the four different divisions, there have been clear differences in approach in taking implementation forward within member companies, a fact reflected in the newly published and updated guidance. When first launched, the framework identified 42 different safety-critical positions. It has now been extended to include a further 13 and may be further extended in the future.

The newly published guidance, compiled by IMCA's Training, Certification & Personnel Competence (TCPC) Core Committee is very much a "live" document that will require modification in the light of experience, technological developments and changes in work activities. The new publication (available separately for each technical division or as a composite volume) is available from IMCA.