Training

Although many Oil and Gas organisations feel that they are legally bound to training and certifying their crew members through OPITO registered Training Institutes only, this is actually not the case.

The International Association for Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) Report 690, (Aircraft Management Guidelines Version 2 May 2017)
clearly states that, with regards to offshore training: “Helideck staff are trained in accordance with OPITO standards or equivalent.” (690-3,16A page 113)

OPITO REVISED TRAINING STANDARDS

As per the legal definition of “compliant”, our courses follow and adhere to standards as laid out by OPITO. This means that, if the training can be cross-checked to match the requirements of OPITO it is accepted by IOGP.
To this end, and as there are very limited OPITO certified helideck crew training organisations around the world, the Flight Safety Group has developed training courses that are fully OPITO compliant and rigidly follow the requirements as laid down by OPITO. These courses are now internationally recognized and many of the leading Oil and Gas companies have their crew members trained by Flight Safety Africa on a regular basis.

The Flight Safety Group is conscious of the fact that both time and cost are of great importance to the Oil and Gas companies and have therefore designed their OPITO compliant courses to be both cost and time effective, without forfeiting any of the requirements which ensure the crew members get the maximum benefit from the training.

In addition, to facilitate the offshore training even further, the Flight Safety Group has now placed all their training courses on the online platform. These include:

• Helideck Operations Initial Training (HOIT)
• Helicopter Emergency Response Team Member Training (HERTM)
• Helicopter Emergency Response Team Leader Training (HERTL)
• Offshore Meteorological Weather Interpretation (OMWIT)
• HERTM and HERTL Refresher Training (for candidates with current valid certification)
• Helicopter Landing Site Officer (HLSO) – onshore helipad requirement
• Offshore Heli Refuelling

In the latest edition of OPITO Standards, various changes have been made that have a dramatic effect on the manner in which the various disciplines are certified. Straight forward Helideck Assistant (HDA) and Helicopter Landing Officer (HLO) certification is no longer acceptable.