One of the International Marine Contractors Association’s (IMCA) key Diving Equipment Systems Inspection Guidance Notes (DESIGN) – IMCA D023 ‘ DESIGN for Surface Oriented (Air) Diving Systems’ has been substantially revised, and is in its industry-wide consultation phase until 14 June 2013.
“This is an important document and we have distributed the draft widely throughout the industry, but are eager to hear from all who are interested to become involved with the consultation exercise, ” explains Jane Bugler, IMCA’s Technical Director. “D023 was initially published in February 2000, and offers examples of good practice and gives advice on aspects of a diving system which should be configured in certain ways in order to provide a safer system of working. It also identifies safe and efficient methods of inspection and testing.”
Anyone interested in receiving a draft of the new ‘DESIGN for Surface Oriented (Air) Diving Systems’ and taking part in the consultation exercise should contact imca@imca-int.com In many cases the text has been revised to ensure that the same wording is used in D 023 as is used in the new version of D 024. In other cases proposed changes in text seek to clarify misunderstandings or inconsistencies which have arisen in the past with different auditors.
Feedback was key for the recent revision of D023’s sister publication D024 ‘DESIGN for saturation diving (bell) systems’. “The draft of the revised document was circulated between July and August 2012 and generated a large amount of feedback, ” explains Jane Bugler. “During the remainder of 2012 the DESIGN workgroup met regularly to discuss the comments received; the final document was published last month.
“We believe that the exhaustive review of IMCA D024 provides the offshore diving industry with an up-to-date and unambiguous common methodology for undertaking consistent and objective inspections of non-PLC based saturation diving equipment systems. And this is exactly the procedure we are now going through with D023.”
About IMCA
- IMCA is an international association with more than 915 members over 60 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 Asia-Pacific, Central & North America, Europe & Africa, Middle East & India and South America 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 – many are available for free downloading by members and non-members alike. These have been developed over the years and are extensively 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 (CMID) – now available electronically as eCMID, safety recommendations, outline training syllabi and the IMCA competence scheme guidance. In addition to the range of printed guidance documents, IMCA also produces safety
