Ships Husbandry and Diver Safety
Simon Binsted
Subsea7 Diving Operations Authority and Chairman of the IMCA Diving Division Management Committee (DDMC)
Last week I had the privilege to speak at the International Marine Contractors Associations,? Underwater Ships Husbandry Seminar in Singapore where 211 delegates from 13 countries gathered.? It would seem odd that a representative from a Tier 1 Global Diving Contractor would speak at such an event, when it doesn’t form part of our organisations core activity. However, as a ship owner and operator as part of that core business, it was opportune moment to contribute to the debate, as exactly that, from a ship owners perspective.
Speakers from Regulators (Singapore MOM), Trade associations (IMCA, The Association of Diving Contractors International (ADCI) Commercial Divers association of Singapore (CDAS)), An Energy Supermajor (TotalEnergies) Ship Agents (GAC Singapore), and specialist UWSH vendors (Seatec) along with Subsea7, who all contributed to a holistic approach on how to improve UWSH diving activities not just in relation to Singapore, but on a Global footing.
The speaker line up also included Derek and Lewis Beddows; one an immensely proud father, and the other a casualty of a ‘People, Plant and a Process’ failure that resulted in life long health changes, ultimately ending Lewis’ career.? The incident that caused this impact was as a result of Underwater Ships (Rig) Husbandry works, so the attendance of Derek and Lewis was extremely pertinent to the context of the Seminar, where the industry continues to see a wholly unacceptable level of serious injuries and fatalities across the global shipping and Underwater Ships Husbandry industry.?
At the conclusion of the seminar attendees were asked “What is your Take away from today’s Discussions?” There were no answers given at the time, as it was a rhetorical question for the individual to pose and answer to themselves.
?So, what was my “Take Away?”
It is to use the experience of Lewis, and the impact on his family, to drive home at every opportunity, when challenged over how we strive for incident free operations. Not only in managing UWSH activities on our vessels, but also in the wider context of Diver Safety.
As Lewis continues along his long road to recovery, we as an industry must use these catastrophic events, as unfortunate that they are, as a catalyst for change, otherwise the anguish, distress and learnings from such events will be in vain.
This would not be the first time I have unashamedly used an incident to drive change. In 2016 while with my previous company, I used (again unashamedly) Mr Chris Lemons’ incident (Last Breath) ?to convince the then senior management, to invest in the latest generation Emergency Gas Breathing system for Divers, the JFD COBRA system. At the time, this meant the company was the first commercial customer of the next generation safety apparatus for Divers.
It is an unfortunate fact that in the majority of cases, it takes an “Incident” to drive change, where that is an inverted system as to how it ideally should be, we must not underestimate the power of personal tragedy to affect change. I, for one embrace these events and use them to the fullest to empower my position as a Diving Technical Authority, and as a industry advocate for continuous Diver Safety regardless of the sector of the industry we operate in.
My personal appreciation must go out to Derek and Lewis, along with all the speakers on the day. A special mention to IMCA, ADCI, CDAS and the organising committee for the event, and also the event sponsors and in particular SMARTDIVES ?and Mr Ali Qaiser.
Managing Director Enviro Hull, Director of Operations, Project Manager, Superintendent, Saturation Diver, Supervisor, HSE Manager
4 个月Thank you for sharing Simon. Certainly well put. It was an informative and sobering experience. The fact that we have our industry leaders and subject matter experts getting involved in what was always regarded as inshore and less dangerous diving activities, clearly demonstrates the need for change and accountability in UWSH. Fantastic to see so many faces, which I have not had the privilege of seeing for all these years. I look forward to what the future holds for the diving industry in general is what I took away from that event.
Dive Tech Saturation (Mech Elec)
5 个月Cobra is not the answer. Its finiky and delicate, SLS was much more robust. Time will tell though, like you say incident lead, all you have to do is look at the mods since conception and the techs who maintain it in the field.
Managing Director at KB Associates Pte Ltd and KBA Training Centre Pte Ltd
5 个月Simon Binsted your presentation was excellent in content and delivery, your LK article here is a great summary of the event and status of the industry, however there were many ACTIONS taken from the UWSH seminar by many and we hope these ACTIONS will be put into play for a progressive improvement of such diving practices. Look forward to catching up again and thanks for your support
Managing Director
5 个月Simon Binsted thank you for sharing for wider reach!
Diving Superintendent/CSR at OPERATEC
5 个月Simon,well said and it's tragicaaly true that any real change in the industry is accident driven .Indeed we have come a long way from the so called good old days but there is still within our industry a certain mindset that is still profit driven with lip service to safety and proven best industry practice. This seminar has highlighted the inherent dangers of ships husbandry and civil diving in general which has continued to operate under antiquated guidlines.Lets hope this gathering proves fruitful with some real changes for the better