From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
Federal Government has expressed concerns about the continued failure to adhere to safety standards by practitioners in the diving sector, saying six divers have lost their lives in the last two years due to unsafe acts.
Chief Inspector of Diving in Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Labour, Julius Ugwala, disclosed this while fielding questions from newsmen at the Hyperbaric Medical Practitioners Society of Nigeria’s Annual General Meeting, award ceremony and launch of Unifed fitness to Dive Certificate for Nigeria held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Ugwala said the Diving Governing Body looks after diving in the country and all its activities, while the Hyperbaric Medicine supports the health and wellbeing of divers.
He said: “It is just like you are alive today. You cannot stay without your doctor. So, we, as divers, need the hyperbaric doctors to survive.”
Ugwuala said the association faces severe challenges due to failure to adhere to safety measures, adding that people like cutting corners which may have adverse effects on the society.
He continued: “I have been an advocate of diving safety for 25 years now. The key issue in Nigeria diving is safety. People like cutting corners and you know when you cut corners, there are issues. This has become a real problem in Nigeria today.
“Last year, we lost four divers if I’m not mistaken. Today, we have lost two divers again because of unsafe acts. A lot of them are medically challenged because of all these kinds of unsafe acts. So, it is a big challenge.”
The Chief Inspector of Diving noted that before now there was the issue of racism and the rest, “Where you see they prefer the expatriates before them (indigenous divers). So you have a lot of expatriates with limited Nigerians. But gradually that is fading off.
“I have seen projects today where we have 100 percent Nigerians and 90 percent Nigerians. It is only a careless mother that will feed an outsider before feeding his own children. Let us feed our own first before looking after others.”
Ugwala called on the International Oil Companies (IOCs) to ensure that safety is their primary concern in every operation they carry out and to also allow equal opportunities for both expatriates and local divers in their operations to create a relaxed atmosphere and prevent violence.
Speaking, President of the HMPSN, Kayode Ogunleye, called on the federal government to build special schools for the training of divers to cater for manpower needs and address the issue of the certification.
Ogumleye said the absence of institutions to train divers in the country has resulted in many divers travelling abroad for certification.
He described divers as one of the lifeblood of the country, adding that they are the ones that lay most of the pipelines used in the oil and gas industries, especially underwater.
Ogumleye explained that the association is responsible for diving safety and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
“We as Hyperbaric physicians and diving physicians, are part of that (diving) community. We help them ensure standards in that regard.”
He noted the body has training in underwater and hyperbaric medicine usually from foreign institutions, adding that the body was trying to advance the science in the country.
Ogumleye disclosed: “There have been cases of divers dying in the country due to poor safety standards.
“We are the ‘go-to organization’ when it comes to diving safety and HBOT. We are having our programme which is the award ceremony and the unveiling of a fitness to work certificate for the country.
“This is domiciled with the Ministry of Labour following the diving and work regulations, 2018. It is a process to make sure we streamline fitness certification in the country. We have cases of divers dying in the country due to poor safety standards.
“Divers primarily are one of the lifeblood of the country. Most of the pipelines you see in the country, divers are the ones that lay them, they are welders, they are plumbers, they are electricians. They are the ones that do most of the deep sea diving.
“We have been in the petroleum industry for many years. So, we have local divers, we have experts. It is a growing community. We have about 3,000 divers in the country.
According to him, some of the challenges facing divers include forgeries, indigenous contractors not taking safety standards seriously; trying to cut corners, among others.
He added that it is responsible for mortalities in the sector which explains the reason for the engagement to reverse the trend.
The HMPSN president said Nigerians are active, although “saturation diving which is a type of diving is not common among Nigerians. The experts have dominated the sector.”
He appealed to government to build capacity by way of training and retraining.
“This is why we are having programmes like this. One of our lectures is about local training for diving. We need to have institutions in Nigeria that actually train divers and empower the Petroleum Training Institute to have good diving schools of Nigeria origin.
“Most of our divers go abroad for certification. Even the doctors go abroad for certification. So, we need a place where we could bring this thing home and we can have it in our country.”
In her address, the Director, Factories of the Federation, Mrs. Lauretta Adogu, represented by the acting Head of Factories, Rivers State, Collins Owhonda, said the Diving Governing Board has kick started its role of ensuring the safety of diving operations within the Nigerian territorial waters through sensitization, monitoring of compliance and enforcement of the provisions of factories regulations 2018.