Diver

What is the work like?

Divers work under water, either at sea or inland in rivers, lakes, canals and reservoirs. They can carry out a wide range of tasks depending on their skills, the industry they work in, and the type of breathing equipment they use.

As a diver you would specialise in one of four areas, which differ according to the depth of the dive and the breathing gear. These are:

• SCUBA (Self-contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) – using an air tank and flippers, mainly in recreational, media and police diving
• Restricted Surface Supplied – using an air line to the surface, usually in inshore/inland diving
• Surface Supplied – using a hot water suit, air line and open diving bells, in offshore diving
• Closed Bell or Saturation Diving – using a diving bell and mixed gas for deep sea diving (often used in surveying, marine archaeology and scientific diving).

You could work as a diver in several industries, including:

• offshore oil and gas, in exploration and surveying, or building and maintaining drilling rigs and pipelines
• civil engineering, in underwater repairs, demolition and salvage
• fish farming or shellfish diving
• the media, for stunts or underwater filming
• scientific research or underwater archaeology
• the police, searching for and recovering missing persons or evidence
• leisure, as a sports diver leading recreational SCUBA dives and/or teaching SCUBA diving skills.

Many underwater tasks can now be carried out by remote-operated vehicles (ROVs), but ROVs have not replaced the need for skilled divers.

What qualifications and experience will employers look for?

Before you begin diver training, you must pass a strict medical carried out by a doctor approved by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). You must also pass a medical each year throughout your diving career.

It would be useful to have experience of recreational diving before you train as a commercial diver, but it is not essential. Many diving schools offer tests to help you decide whether you would be suited to working underwater.

You do not need academic qualifications to learn diving skills. However, to work as a commercial diver you will need the right skills and qualifications for your industry, as well as diving skills. For example:

• some offshore divers might need a degree in surveying or engineering
• construction divers might need qualifications in welding or non-destructive testing
• most scientific divers have a degree in oceanography or marine biology
• police or armed forces divers must already be serving in the force.

For offshore work, you must pass an offshore survival course, also known as emergency response training, or basic offshore induction and emergency training (BOSIET). Visit OPITO's website for details of approved BOSIET training providers.

Employers may also expect you to have specialised first-aid training from a HSE-approved centre. You can often combine this with your practical diving training.

What further training and development can I do?

To become a working commercial diver in Great Britain, you must gain an appropriate HSE-approved qualification from an approved training centre. The HSE offers different levels of certification for various types of diving, including:

• SCUBA
• Surface Supplied
• Surface Supplied Top-up (offshore top-up)
• Closed Bell.

You may increase your chances of finding commercial diving work by holding more than one type of HSE certification. The International Marine Contractors Association recommends having Surface Supplied and Surface Supplied Top-up as a minimum. Each course can take up to five weeks, and you will usually have to fund your training yourself.

See the HSE website for more details about qualifications and approved training providers in the UK.

You may need to learn extra skills for certain jobs, for example underwater welding, or non-destructive testing in a marine environment.

To become a SCUBA diving instructor, you will need to take a series of courses from a sports diving organisation such as the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) or the British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC). For example, the first stage with PADI is to become a Divemaster, who can assist fully-qualified instructors, lead guided dives and teach snorkelling. To qualify as a PADI Divemaster you will need:

• PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certificate
• PADI Rescue Diver (or an equivalent from another diving organisation), plus
• at least 20 recorded dives.

You can join PADI’s Instructor Development Course (IDC) once you are a qualified Divemaster with at least 60 dives. See PADI's website for full details.

Where can I go for more information?

Rose Court
2 Southwark Bridge
London
SE1 9HS
Tel: 0845 345 0055

Unit 5, Mandarin Court
Centre Park
Warrington
Cheshire
WA1 1GG
Tel: 01925 515200

5 Lower Belgrave Street
London
SW1W 0NR
Tel: 020 7824 5520

An Aird
Fort William
Invernesshire
PH33 6AN
Tel: 01397 703786

Unit 7, St Philips Central
Albert Road
St Philips
Bristol
BS2 0PD
Tel: 0117 300 7234

Fort Cumberland
Forth Cumberland Road
Eastney
Portsmouth
PO4 9LD
Tel: 023 9281 8419

If you would like to discuss your career options with a learning adviser at learndirect Careers Advice, call 0800 100 900 or use our online enquiry form

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