Oil and Gas is one of the biggest and most well paid industries in the world, working on the rigs and on supply boats is exciting and high risk job that requires a high level of offshore safety instruction before you even step on the helicopter.
What are the main offshore courses available:
BOSIET - Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training Course
BOSIET stands for Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training. Before you can step into an helicopter you will need to complete this course, however in recent years the Oil and Gas industry has introduced the MIST or the Minimum Industry Standard Training.
HUET - Helicopter Underwater Emergency Training
This is one of the Modules in the BOSIET course, the HUET is the Helicopter Escape part of your training, learning how to survive and escape from a crashed helicopter in water. This involves using an EBS (Emergency Breathing System) and pushing open the Helicopter windows and escaping. You will get training in 3 different emergency helicopter scenarios:
- Escaping from a helicopter floating on water (upright)
- Escaping from a helicopter submerged underwater (upright)
- Escaping from a helicopter submerged underwater (inverted/upside down)
Watch this video of the BOSIET course.
MIST - Minimum Industry Standard Training Course
The was MIST was introduced to emphasise importance of safety, an Oil Rig is sitting on the worlds massive natural gas supplies, the dangers are very real and the MIST is now a requirement to go on the rigs. For those who have already worked offshore this course an intensive repetition of their regular safety meetings. For new offshore workers, MIST is interesting and will get you used to the 'safety first' culture.
FOET - Further Offshore Emergency Training Course
Also called the 'offshore refresher' The Foet is for experienced oil workers who are required to do a shortened version of the BOSIET course, the FOET refresher is required every four years. Compared with the BOSIET the FOET is much shorter yet still carries a similar price tag.
OPITO - Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation
What is OPITO?
OPITO stands for Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation, they are the industry standards company that make sure the your offshore training courses contains all the correct information and material. If a course has the OPITO logo on it then you know that it is accepted globally in the Oil and Gas industry. For example, if you do your BOSIET in the UK, an OPITO recognised course, then you can go and work anywhere. Different rigs and installations may require additional qualifications but any installation(rig) specific training is usually organised by the oil company.
EBS - Emergency Breathing System
The EBS or Emergency Breathing System is used in your BOSIET and FOET course to train you how to escape from a helicopter when it is underwater. The EBS acts as an extra lung of air to give you more time in an emergency situation. There is another system called the CA-EBS which is the same as the EBS, the extra lung but with the addition of compressed air CA.
