HSE, IMCA, ADCI, ADAS or DCBC: which certification to choose

The underlying confusion: who certifies whom

Before comparing acronyms, it's worth understanding a distinction almost no website explains properly: the diver and the supervisor are not certified by the same kind of body. The diver is trained and accredited by a recognised school within a regulatory or national scheme. The supervisor — the person who runs the operation from surface, controls the gases and answers for the team's safety — is certified by the industry through IMCA.

That's why asking "which is better, HSE or IMCA?" is the wrong question: they aren't in competition, they sit at different layers of the same system. You can hold an HSE diver's ticket and, years later, earn the IMCA supervisor certification. If you're still deciding where to start, it's worth first getting clear on how a commercial diver is trained and what steps there are before spending money on a course.

Regulators and training schemes (certify the diver)

• HSE — United Kingdom
• ADCI — United States
• ADAS — Australia
• DCBC — Canada
• National bodies in other countries (Norway, South Africa, Brazil, etc.)

IMCA (certifies the supervisor and provides the offshore framework)

IMCA is the international marine contractors' association. It isn't a diving school: it publishes safety standards, runs the supervisor certification scheme and a recognition and logbook system for divers working on projects for its member companies. It's the common language of the offshore oil and gas sector and of offshore wind.

HSE: the North Sea's benchmark standard

La Health and Safety Executive is the British workplace safety regulator, and its commercial diving qualifications rank among the most recognised in the world. They're structured in four modules that build on each other:

• SCUBA — self-contained diving for shallow occupational work.
• Surface Supplied — surface supply, the bread and butter of commercial diving with helmet and umbilical.
• Surface Supplied Top Up — add-on module for extending depth and gas mixes.
• Closed Bell — closed bell, es decir, saturation.

The Closed Bell module is the one that qualifies you for saturation diving in the North Sea. If you're not clear on what that pressurised work regime involves, we explain it step by step in what a saturation diver is. The advantage of the HSE route is its prestige: a British ticket opens doors in many markets, even if you later need extra paperwork to work outside the United Kingdom.

IMCA: not a diver's ticket, but the offshore framework

We repeat the point because it's the one that causes the most confusion: IMCA does not train you as a diver. What IMCA does is certify supervisors (both air diving and bell diving supervisors), run a diver recognition scheme with its logbook, and publish the best-practice guidance that the major contractors follow. When an IMCA member company mobilises a project, it requires divers and supervisors to meet these requirements.

In practice, IMCA recognises several national diver training schemes for offshore work. That list is what determines whether your ticket "works" on a given project. That's why it helps to think in two steps: first choose a recognised diver scheme, and later, with experience, make the jump to supervisor with IMCA.

ADCI: the gateway to the Gulf of Mexico and the Americas

La Association of Diving Contractors International, headquartered in the United States, issues the certification card that dominates the Gulf of Mexico and much of the Americas. Its categories run from air diver up to bell/sat diver and supervisor. If your goal is to work in the US offshore industry, the ADCI route is the most direct, because it's the reference local contractors use.

ADAS: Australia and Asia-Pacific

El Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme was set up with Australian government backing and enjoys considerable international prestige because of how demanding its training is. It's organised into parts, from Part 1 to Part 4, and Part 4 corresponds to closed bell / saturation. It's the benchmark scheme in Australia and highly regarded across Asia-Pacific, as well as being recognised in other markets.

DCBC: Canada

El Diver Certification Board of Canada issues Canadian commercial diving certifications, with categories running from restricted surface supplied up to bell/sat diver and supervisor. It's the ticket the Canadian market asks for and, like the others, it takes part in recognition agreements with other schemes.

Mutual recognition: does my ticket work in another country?

Here's the practical key. No ticket is automatically universal, but bilateral agreements and recognition lists exist between schemes. Broadly speaking, HSE, ADAS, DCBC and others maintain a degree of mutual recognition, and IMCA publishes which schemes it accepts for the offshore work it governs. Even so, switching markets almost always involves paperwork: conversions, a local medical, or a bridging course.

How to choose based on the market you're interested in

The rule is simple: choose the scheme for the market where you want to work first, not the one that happens to be closest to home. If you're aiming for the North Sea and European offshore wind, the HSE route makes sense. If your horizon is the Gulf of Mexico, ADCI. If you're in Oceania or Asia-Pacific, ADAS. And if you're starting out in Canada, DCBC.

Many divers combine tickets over the course of their career to move between basins. Before deciding, look at where the work is and what each region lives on in our guide to where saturation diving work is found, check the overview of schemes in certifications and compare schools in the directory of schools. Choosing your first certification well saves you expensive conversions later on.