IMCA’s Diving Supervisors’ CPD App to be made mandatory from 2021 – fourth 2020 Knowledge Unit now available

In launching the fourth knowledge unit for its App-based Diving Supervisors’ continuing professional development (CPD) scheme, the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has issued a reminder that the scheme will be mandatory from early 2021. The App incorporates the latest in training techniques to support Diving Supervisors in keeping up to date with current safety information and guidelines from IMCA.

Bryan McGlinchy, IMCA’s Diving Manager said:

I urge IMCA Diving Supervisors who have yet to register for the CPD scheme to act now. Visit our website, complete the simple registration process, download the App and complete the four knowledge units released in 2020. By so doing your qualification will be brought to in-date status. Thereafter, to remain in-date, IMCA Diving Supervisors will have to complete each new knowledge unit issued before the next quarter’s knowledge unit is released.

“The CPD scheme has been in place since April 2020 on a voluntary basis, however in Q1 2021 the scheme becomes mandatory for all IMCA Diving Supervisors.

“Full information including a downloadable flyer which covers the steps to be taken by currently non-registered Diving Supervisors; frequently asked questions; and detailed rules of operation are available at legacy.imca-int.com/certification/diving-supervisor-cpd/ “

From 2021 there will be an annual fee of £100 per person to cover the running costs of the scheme.

The new knowledge unit

Knowledge unit four for 2020 is now available.  Its modules cover a range of topics of interest to diving supervisors, including lessons to be learned from safety flashes, diving physics, minimum quantities of gas required offshore, equivalent air depth calculation, gas analysis, and TUP techniques.

Bryan McGlinchy explained:

“This is the fourth and final voluntary knowledge unit. The TUP module has been included following a request from a Bell Diving Supervisor who had expressed concerns to IMCA about inconsistencies in TUP protocols he had encountered when working for different companies. Where possible, IMCA will continue to tailor the content of the Diving Supervisor CPD App to ensure we address the challenges that diving supervisors encounter on a regular basis. We welcome such suggestions for future modules.”

About the App and Scheme

The App is user friendly and can be used across many mobile devices and operating systems, on or offline, allowing users the flexibility of choosing when and where to complete the relevant modules.

The development and governance of the system has been overseen by IMCA’s Diving Division Management Committee which comprises leading industry diving managers and experts. Trials were conducted with diving supervisors from across the industry during the development and testing phase.