BSAC General Information - Careers in Commercial Diving
As the UK governing body for the sport of underwater swimming, the British Sub-Aqua Club has no direct dealings with commercial diving activities and therefore can only offer basic information on this subject.
There are various career opportunities in commercial diving, marine science and technology. Universities and colleges, which offer such specialist courses, will be able to tell you more about career opportunities in marine sciences.
In order to comply with Health and Safety at Work legislation, persons seeking employment as a commercial diver in Great Britain must hold a Certificate of Diver Training, issued by a diving school approved by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). According to the nature of the commercial diving work you hope to pursue, different levels of certification are available:
| HSE Scuba Diver | Air Diving with self-contained equipment where no surface compression chamber is required on site. |
| HSE Surface Supply Diver | Air Diving where no surface compression chamber is required on site. |
| HSE Surface Supply (Top Up) Diver | Air Diving where surface compression chamber is required on site. |
| HSE Closed Bell Diver | Mixed Gas and / or Bell Diving |
Each qualification level covers the capabilities of the preceding one. Only Surface Supply (Top Up) Diver and Closed Bell Diver certificates are acceptable for working offshore.
In UK, training courses offered by the H&SE approved commercial diver training schools listed below lead to such certificates. On completion of diver training, these schools may be able to place successful students with companies wishing to employ divers.
It should be understood that the majority of career opportunities in commercial diving are for divers with engineering or scientific skills. It is therefore advisable to continue your education, or seek additional education and training in order to acquire the technical skills needed by those who employ divers. People can be taught to dive relatively quickly: learning the specialist skills which an employer needs usually takes much longer, and should be the priority for any young person planning a career in commercial diving. Possession of an 'entry level' recreational diving qualifications is necessary before embarking on a commercial diver training course.
The Underwater Centre, Fort William, Inverness PH33 6LZ Telephone: 01397 703786 Fax: 01397 704969 Website http://www.theunderwatercentre.co.uk
Commercial diver training schools offering HSE Professional SCUBA only courses:
DV Diving, 138 Mountstewart Road, Newtownards, Co. Down, Northern Ireland BT22 2ES Telephone & Fax +44 (0)28 91 464671
The National Hyperbaric Centre Ltd. 123 Ashgrove Road West, Aberdeen AB16 5FA, Tel: 01224-698 895 Fax: 01224-692 222
Page last modified: 29th Jun 2007 - 11:13:53