With the festivities over for another year, it’s back to work in what seems to be some pretty challenging weather conditions. With wind, rain and now snow starting to lash the UK, work on site will get even more challenging than normal.

The end of December is also that time of year when we take the opportunity to review the status of the current list of ADC certified supervisors, in an effort to ensure that the requirement for completing at least one annual Continuing Professional Development (CDP) session has been achieved.

An initial review suggests that there are still quite a number who need to complete their CPD, so it has been decided to extend the deadline for the 2015 CPD requirement until mid-February, in an effort to ensure that anyone who wishes to retain the validity of their certificate is not disadvantaged, despite having already had a complete year in which to log on and complete the validation assessment.

So you have been advised for probably the last time, either complete the online session that is provided via the Supervisors login on the ADC website, or have the company you work for advise the secretary by email confirming the names, details and certificate numbers of those who have completed in-house CPD so that we can update the records accordingly.

2015 was an interesting year in respect to the ongoing interest in the activities of the Association and the number of new member applications that were received. The first few weeks of 2016 have shown that the interest in obtaining membership has not slowed, with at least four applications currently being processed.

Before diving contractors are invited to tender or quote for work, having membership of the ADC now appears to be the routine requirement of a broad selection of client groups. Hopefully this is a good sign and reflects the work the Association does to promote the continued improvement in standards that help keep the industry in a good place with regard to safety performance.

The number of client groups who are taking the time to improve the standard and competence of the personnel they expect to monitor and coordinate the activities of diving contractors at work also continues to grow steadily. Now that Regulation 4, that short but very powerful bit of wording that is bound into the Diving at Work Regulations (“Every person who to any extent is responsible for … whose acts or omissions could adversely affect ... shall take such measures ... to ensure these Regulations are complied with”), is properly understood, these responsible clients are working hard to ensure that they are not caught out when required to use the services of diving contractors.

The year ahead always looks challenging from the dark and cold days of January. The overall feeling is not much helped by the ongoing challenges faced by the offshore sector, as the oil price continues to trade at a very low level – so we could well see an influx of more personnel from the offshore sector as the year progresses. Best wishes for the year ahead!

Roger O’Kane, ADC Secretary