Please see the FAQ section on survival and medicals.
In summary
Offshore Survival – UK
The "Offshore Survival Certificate" as the BOSIET is also commonly known, is only valid for 4 years, and a refresher (usually lasting a day) must be done before your old certificate expires otherwise the whole 3 day course must be repeated.
There is an expiry date added to the certificate on issue.
Offshore Medical
For UK waters, all assets are controlled by OGUK (formerly UKOOA).
From 1 Jan 2007, irrespective of the age of the offshore person, renewals are necessary 2-yearly.
Individual Operators retain the right to request medical assessments more frequently.
For UK waters, only physicians who are approved by the United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association (OGUK – UKOOA) Health Advisory Committee should carry out the examination.
A UK offshore medical used to be simply UKOOA approved. These days UKOOA has been been re-badged to OGUK. Whether they have a medical advisory committee or not I don’t know, but as long as the certificate is issued by a UKOOA or OGUK approved doctor then it will be valid.
Update 2011-01-14
Minimum Industry Offshore Safety Training (MIST)
MIST is a recent innovation and some what controversial in the way it has been presented to the UK offshore industry. However, it appears that from 1st Jan 2011 through the impression being given by training establishments that all new starts will require MIST training before they will be allowed to work anywhere offshore in the UK sector of the North Sea. This is not a legal requirement but an industry initiative backed by OPITO. Not all operators/companies require you to have MIST training and it appears top be geared towards RIG/Platform based workers as opposed to vessel based workers. At ROVwolrd we suggest you speak with your Employer /Agency as to whether they feel MIST is required for you to continue working offshore.
You can read all about mist in the thread: MIST – What’s this all about? Do I need it?
In a nutshell, at the time of writing this update, it appear MIST will need a refresher every four years. Most safety training establishments offering BOSIET courses will also offer MIST training at around GBP300.00 + VAT per student.
Those already established in the industry, who feel they are required to have MIST cert, can take an on-line exam which will cost around GBP75.00.
If you work on boats before splashing out any cash I’d wait until this all pans out.
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