Opito News

Norwegian maritime and offshore training software firm Mintra said it has appointed Kevin Short as CEO. Short, who has been chief commercial officer since 2018, takes over the leadership role from Scott Kerr following his decision to join the firm’s board of directors.“In these post-Covid times and as we slowly return to a world that can be considered more normal, there are tremendous prospects for both digital learning and human capital management software. We know that how things worked before – people constantly travelling to training facilities – will not be the same going forward.

OPITO, the global, not-for-profit skills body for the energy industry, has appointed Brandon Grosvenor to the new role of vice president of strategic development for the Americas region.He had previously spent more than a decade with National Oilwell Varco in Houston, most recently as a global business development manager. Mr Grosvenor also served in various roles within the global training organization where he created and implemented training programmes and developed skills assessments.More than 350,000 people are trained to OPITO standards ever year and Mr Grosvenor will further increase support to the oil and gas industry in the region.He said: “There is growing interest in increasing competency…

Falck Safety Services and Simwave are joining forces to serve the maritime and oil and gas industries with combined simulation and practical training. For more than 30 years, Falck Safety Services has offered safety training for the offshore, maritime and wind industries. On November 8th, Simwave will open its doors to the most advanced maritime simulator center in the world. This co-operation means that customers will be able to undertake simulation training at Simwave to complement the training at one of the training centers of Falck Safety Services.

Clyde Training Solutions (CTS) opened central Scotland’s first dedicated marine and offshore international training centre. CTS – a newly established Clyde Group company -  is now offering an extensive range of onsite accredited maritime safety courses to an international market at its new complex on the banks of the River Clyde in Clydebank. Phase one of operations at the centre has created in the region of 30 jobs with potential operational growth likely to create future employment. The centre offers multiple classrooms, dedicated deep-water pool, HUET (Helicopter Underwater Escape Training module), and full fire training ground complete with training stack and helideck, all within easy reach of Glasgow Airport and Glasgow city centre.

THE top three international employers and training providers shortlisted to compete to be crowned winners at the annual OPITO Safety and Competency Awards in Kuala Lumpur have been announced today (28th September, 2016). Shell Nigeria, Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) and McDermott are shortlisted in the Employer of the Year category, while PT Sampson Tiara, Wild Geese and Grupo Stier have been named in the OPITO approved Training Provider of the Year section. The winning companies in each category will be unveiled during the 2016 OPITO Safety & Competency Conference (OSCC), in partnership with PETRONAS, at The Royale Chulan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday 16th November.

GAC Training and Service Solutions (GTSS), the specialist provider of world-class training for maritime personnel, has announced an agreement with ATPI Griffinstone, part of the ATPI Group, one of the leaders in travel solutions for the shipping and energy industries. The agreement will provide the first fully integrated training and travel offering for seafarers and crew seeking mandatory training under the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification & Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) and Offshore Petroleum Industry Training (OPITO) requirements. Developed in response to forthcoming changes to STCW requirements…

Thegrowth in oil and gas activity in Côte D’Ivoire has seen investment in standardized safety training in the region far outstrip that of other hydrocarbon-rich West African countries, according to international learning technologies company Atlas Knowledge. Uptake of International Minimum Industry Safety Training, the global standard for health and safety training, has rocketed in the country in the last two years and now accounts for almost 15 percent of the worldwide total. On a country-by-country basis, this represents the largest uptake of IMIST across Atlas’ network of international training partners. An OPITO standard, IMIST was…

Marine safety equipment leader VIKING Life-Saving Equipment will appear in force at Nor-Shipping 2015, displaying both innovative products and services that are proving popular with shipowners around the world. Few innovations in the safety equipment servicing arena have caught on as strongly as VIKING’s Shipowner Agreements. Based on the concept of fixed prices and centralized, single-source servicing for multi-brand safety equipment, these agreements have been rapidly adopted by forward-thinking shipowners across the globe. VIKING’s stand at Nor-Shipping will be manned by experts ready to discuss the options available and explain the popularity of this type of servicing contract.

Global safety standards body, OPITO, says safety in the oil and gas industry is still not good enough despite a five year improvement in the Middle-east. At its fifth annual safety and competence conference (OSCC 2014) in Abu Dhabi today (4 November 2014), OPITO called for more effective leadership to prevent fatal accidents, lost time incidents and near-misses. David Doig, group chief executive of OPITO, said: “The latest figures from the association of oil and gas producers (OGP) reveal that there were 88 fatalities in the industry across the world in 2012 with LTIs (lost-time incidents) increasing by 12%. This is simply not good enough. There are a number of common causal factors, one of which is inadequate standards.

This year’s SMM in Hamburg will see VIKING release more innovations than at any other point in its 50-year history, including new developments in PPE clothing, safety equipment outsourcing, onboard training solutions, and evacuation systems, as well as a catalogue that almost doubles the number of maritime products. Esbjerg, Denmark, September 2014 – Riding high on market successes, marine safety equipment manufacturer VIKING Life-Saving Equipment’s product developers have been adding innovation after innovation to the company’s already impressive range of products and service offerings. Highlights from these new additions will be on display at the VIKING stand #504 at SMM in Hamburg.

VIKING Saatsea will be at SMM 2014 to showcase the revolution it has brought about in crew training – moving everything on board to cut costs, speed up certification, ease administration and create greater on-the-job satisfaction for crew being trained. Esbjerg, Denmark, September 2014 – SMM 2014 sets the scene for a fundamental change in the way shipowners and offshore asset owners train their crews to comply with STCW and OPITO requirements, and the systems they use to track and report on such certifications. And it will also be the launch pad for the first onboard training system that enables them to design and build their own, fully customized courses for any training task.

DNV GL, the global provider of risk management services, is extending a offshore safety training program which aims to advance the role of elected safety representatives (ESRs) in minimizing the risk of accidents and improving safety. The course, which is accredited by OPITO, will now be available at DNV GL’s Manchester offices from October to complement and add capacity to the training already provided in its Aberdeen office. DNV GL said it is the only accredited provider of this training, which was started last year and is available to more than 2,000 ESRs working across the industry. It is the first recognized standard applied to any safety representative training since the creation of the basic course, introduced in 1989.

Emirates International Maritime Academy & Higher Colleges of Technology Look to Produce New Cadre of UAE Maritime & Seafaring Experts. The Emirates International Maritime Academy (EIMA) will collaborate with the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) to investigate avenues for the training of the UAE’s future maritime engineers and seafarers with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU was signed by His Excellency Khamis Juma Buamim, Chairman of Drydocks World and Maritime World and Chairman of EIMA, and Dr.

The date and topic for this year’s OPITO Safety and Competence Conference – OSCC 2014 have been announced. Now in its fifth year, the annual event will take place on November 4, 2014 in the Fairmont Hotel, Abu Dhabi. Under the title of “Leading from the Front-line”, the conference will explore the dynamic of effective leadership and change management on human behaviors in relation to safety. Over 400 delegates and 25 exhibitors are expected at OSCC 2014 where leaders from the…

Maersk Training announced the launch of two new offshore emergency courses: the OPITO Helideck Emergency Response Team Member Training and the OPITO 6 Day Combined Helideck and Team Member Training. These two OPITO Accredited courses will kick start this month at the company’s training center in the northeast of Scotland and be delivered using a newly built Helicopter simulator and helideck. Following a significant financial investment last year, Maersk Training in Aberdeen has built a brand new Helicopter Simulator and Helideck fire ground to support its two new courses.

Survival Craft Inspectorate (SCI), a global provider of emergency marine systems and support services, said it has made a key appointment as it targets further growth in 2014. David Weston has been appointed training and competence operations manager at the business, which recently opened its 12th office in Rotterdam. As well as his company-wide auditing role, David – who served in the RAF for 22 years – heads up the new Survival Craft Inspectorate Training Academy in Stonehaven.

The winners of OPITO’s annual global oil and gas workforce safety awards have been announced in the presence of Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, the Minister of Energy for the United Arad Emirates. SBM and MSTS/Falck Safety Services Malaysia were yesterday (Tuesday, November 19) named Employer of the Year and Training Provider of the Year respectively at the OPITO Safety and Competency Conference in Abu Dhabi. The global annual awards recognizes companies that best demonstrate their commitment to building a safe and competent workforce through OPITO standards and are presented at the OSCC.

The most thorough analysis of the North Sea oil and gas skills landscape ever undertaken will commence next week with nine of the U.K.’s leading energy, business and skills organizations involved. The major study is the first to examine in depth exactly how many people and what skills are needed in order to address the critical shortage in the industry both now and in the future. Senior representatives from more than 1,000 operators, contractors and organizations throughout the…

Suhail Mohamed Al Mazrouei, the Minister of Energy for the United Arad Emirates will open the OPITO Safety and Competency Conference – OSCC 2013 – which takes place in the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel, Abu Dhabi on November 19, 2013. This year’s event will be the fourth annual gathering of oil and gas operators, contractors and the supply chain together with training organisations to examine how to improve standards of safety and competency that protect the workforce and the industry’s reputation.

OPITO, the skills for oil and gas body, appointed a new managing director to lead the U.K. arm of the organization as the industry gears up for a major change in how it addresses its skills needs. John McDonald has taken over the reins at OPITO from Larraine Boorman who stood down in August. He brings a wealth of experience and an impressive track record in the skills, training and workforce development sector to the Aberdeen-headquartered organization. Former director of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Mr.

A new approach to tackling the need to attract thousands of new recruits into the oil and gas industry has been unveiled by sector skills body OPITO. OPITO said it is responding to the need for a less fragmented approach to the skills issue with a £1.2million annual investment that will result in the creation of the first ever national oil and gas skills agenda. The move will see six jobs created immediately, based within OPITO’s headquarters at Portlethen, Aberdeen, with further recruitment likely in the coming months. “Despite significant investment largely from industry, but more recently from government, and a raft of private and public initiatives, we are still not properly addressing the skills challenges in oil and gas.

DNV is to deliver new courses in offshore safety which aim to advance the critical role of elected safety representatives (ESRs) in minimizing the risk of accidents and improving safety. Following a series of successful pilot courses earlier this year, DNV is now accredited by OPITO to run courses which will be available to more than 2,000 ESRs working across the industry. This is the first recognized standard applied to any safety representative training since the creation of the basic course…

Employers and training providers are invited to submit nominations for the annual OPITO Safety and Competency Awards 2013 which recognize organizations that achieve the highest safety standards in the oil and gas industry. The accolades will be presented at the OPITO Safety and Competency Conference (OSCC) held at the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel, Abu Dhabi, UAE on Tuesday, November 19, 2013. Shell is the headline sponsor of the event which is also supported by SEFtec and Atlas. These OPITO awards recognize companies who are committed to building a safe and competent workforce through OPITO standards. Any company associated with the oil…