IMCA Trainee Air Diving Supervisor (TADS)

Diving Physics

• Basic calculations for the conversion of metric and imperial units
• Basic physical units used in diving
• Boyle’s Law (calculating air volumes and diver’s gas consumption)
• Dalton’s Law (partial pressure of gases at various depths)
• Charles’ Law (the relationship between pressure changes and temperature changes)
• Archimedes’ Principle (calculating the buoyancy and lift requirements of various objects)
• Henry’s Law (the effect of partial pressures on the solubility of gases in liquids and the corresponding effects on decompression)
• The principles of heat transfer by conduction, convection, and radiation

Diving Physiology

• The respiratory, circulatory, basic skeletal and nervous systems of the body
• The problems of maintaining divers in thermal balance and the symptoms and treatments
• of hypo- and hyperthermia
• The effects of gases on the body and their limits under pressure (in particular, oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen)
• The effects of pressure on the body and the principles of decompression and therapeutic procedures including proximity to a chamber and flying after diving
• The causes and symptoms of decompression sickness and barotrauma
• The contents, requirements, and maintenance of various types of diving medical kits
• Awareness of the requirements of divers’ current physical and mental health to undertake diving operations

Leadership and Control

They should demonstrate an understanding of:

• the compilation and use of diving equipment checklists
• the reporting of accidents occurring in the water or on deck
• leadership and communication, including the role of a leader, communication, and possible conflicts
• planning and organising work, including risk assessment, assigning work tasks and team building
• leadership in emergency and stress situations, including symptom recognition, preventative measures, courses of action and transfer of experience.

Air Diving Supervisors should be:

• able to prepare pre- and post-dive checklists and supervise their use for all diving operations and equipment under their control
• familiar with the requirements for project planning and execution, including the need to prepare and undertake risk assessments, develop dive plans, and work with step-by-step procedures
• familiar with the requirements of permits to work systems, management of change (MOC) and lift planning procedures
• familiar with all relevant IMCA and Diving Medical Advisory Committee (DMAC) guidance notes affecting surface diving operations, including the use of a wet bell
• able to keep accurate records of all operations under their control.

They should also have a thorough knowledge of:

• safety on the surface, including the use of tools
• safety in the water, paying particular reference to differential pressure hazards, currents, sea states etc.
• working methods of, and safe procedures for, commonly used tools and equipment, e.g. underwater oxy-arc cutting equipment
• the responsibilities of all members of the diving team
• construction and maintenance of valves and fittings used in surface diving equipment
• control panels and chambers, use and maintenance of built-in breathing systems (BIBS), operation and design of medical locks, including interlock systems
• air and gas requirements, handling, purity, oxygen cleanliness and analysis
• air and nitrox surface diving procedures and emergencies
• the limitations of SCUBA
• wet bell procedures and emergencies, including an introduction to surface supplied mixed gas diving operations
• chamber and surface decompression procedures and emergencies
• decompression and therapeutic procedures
• general safety requirements of the different types of diving platforms used for conducting offshore surface diving operations, including dive support vessels (DSVs), construction barges, mother-daughter craft, and fixed or floating offshore installations
• surface diving operations conducted from vessels operating in dynamically positioned mode, including the precautions and arrangements necessary to ensure deployment device and diver excursion umbilical safety during such operations
• surface diving operations conducted from fixed or floating offshore installations
• the hazards associated with simultaneous operations, e.g. overboard scaffolding
• operations
• the hazards associated with over-the-side working, the planning and execution of lifting operations associated with diving operations, diving in the vicinity of pipelines, ROV intervention during diving operations, diver and ROV-based concrete mattress handling
• how to manage a wide variety of emergency situations, both diving-related and task-related, including accelerated decompression
• how to organise and undertake regular routine emergency drills
• the requirements of IMCA D018 Code of Practice for the Initial and Periodic Examination, Testing and Certification of Diving Plant and Equipment and the IMCA Diving Equipment Systems Inspection Guidance Notes (DESIGNs) relevant to surface diving.

The course will be knowledge-based. During the course, learning may be assessed practically, verbally, or by questionnaire.

There will be continuing assessment and a formal examination at the end of the course.

The examination will enable the candidates to demonstrate that they have achieved the necessary learning objectives for the course.

Examinations such as multiple-choice questionnaires, descriptive essays, practical simulation scenarios, or a combination of such will be acceptable. IMCA recommends a pass mark of 70% for the final exam.