With the arrival of four new Technical Advisers, the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) is well set to carry out its work programme on behalf of its 850+ member companies in over 60 countries.
The four new members of the team take on the roles of Technical Adviser – Competence and Training; Technical Adviser – Marine; and two are Technical Advisers – Diving. They join the existing technical team headed by IMCA’s Technical Director, Jane Bugler and her team of four other Technical Advisers and Certification Schemes Co-ordinator, and Certification Schemes Assistant.
“It is good to be fully up to strength so that our two core Committees (Competence and Training; and Safety, Environment and Legislation), our four Technical Divisions (Marine, Diving, Offshore Survey, and Remote Systems and ROV), and our five international sections are well served,” says IMCA’s Chief Executive, Hugh Williams. “All four of our new team members are highly qualified so have been able to ‘hit the ground running’ and provide advice within days of joining us.
“Ours is a respected voice around the world promoting good practice, particularly in the areas of health, safety and environmental standards, quality and efficiency and technical standards; and our Technical Advisers are a vital link in the chain that ensures our work programmes not only meet, but surpass, members’ expectations.”
About the four new Technical Advisers
• Neil Evans has joined the IMCA secretariat as a Technical Adviser – Competence & Training, responsible for delivering the work programme of the Competence & Training Committee working closely with the technical committees for each of their disciplines.
His professional career began as an aircraft engineer with British Aerospace building military aircraft before adding a degree in sports science and a period in recruitment placing technical personnel. During the last 10 years Neil has delivered learning and development programmes for different groups including ex-offenders and careers advice professionals with the last five years spent managing training and competency based qualifications nationally across UK local government
Neil is qualified through the CIPD and certified to deliver the Myers Briggs Type Indicator personality profiling instrument.
• Mark Ford joined the IMCA secretariat as a Technical Adviser - Marine from Charles Taylor Consulting where he worked as a senior surveyor and divisional director in the safety and loss prevention department. His work involved carrying out ship condition surveys prior to, and during entry into, P&I insurance cover, and writing various technical and safety articles for the safety and loss department’s publications. Initially Mark worked for over 25 years as a marine engineer, on various ships including bulk carriers and diving support vessels, ultimately sailing at the rank of chief engineer. He has worked as an engineer superintendent for a product tanker company which involved dry dockings, general repairs and the daily running of the fleet and also as a consultant marine engineer, specialising in FMEAs and retro-fit specifications.
He comes to IMCA with a wealth of experience in the marine engineering field, which will benefit not only the work programme of the IMCA Marine Division, but also the other members of the technical team.
• Bryan McGlinchy has joined the IMCA secretariat as a Technical Adviser - Diving from the UK Health and Safety Executive.
He has significant experience in the offshore diving industry and as a safety professional making him a valued member of the IMCA technical team, where he will be focusing on the work programme of IMCA’s diving committee. At the Executive, Bryan worked as a front-line inspector, initially in the metals and minerals sector, and then, for more than twelve years, as a Diving Specialist Inspector. In the latter role he was responsible for the inspection of all sectors of the diving industry in Great Britain, and for the investigation of accidents incidents and complaints related to diving at work both inshore and offshore. In addition, Bryan supervised a number of diving research projects and developed diving industry guidance on behalf of the Executive. He also worked on diving topic assessment of oil and gas company safety cases.
Bryan began his career as a diver in the early eighties. He worked for a variety of diving contractors, most of whom are now IMCA members, in the Middle East, India, North Sea, and West Africa. Over a fifteen year period he took part in a wide range of commercial diving activities.
• Peter Sieniewicz joined IMCA as a Technical Adviser (Diving) in April 2012, following 14 years at the Health and Safety Executive (UK HSE) as a Specialist Diving Inspector. For the last 10 years Peter managed a team of specialist diving inspectors in the HSE Southern Inspection Team looking after the health and safety of divers through inspection and investigation in both the offshore and onshore sectors of diving. Prior to this, following a move from industry Peter worked as a front line diving inspector, providing guidance and information through inspection and investigation, together with the diving topic assessment of offshore safety cases.
Peter began his diving career in Canada moving to England in the late 70s. Initially working in Plymouth at a diver training school his career took him to a research post in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University College London and then to Rockwater as the ROV & Inspection Services Manager which broadened his offshore inspection and construction knowledge. Peter has had input to many facets of the diving industry including: research, legislation, diver training and project management reinforced throughout by diver safety.
At IMCA he is focusing particularly on the work programme of IMCA’s diving division and working with the other Technical Advisers in the secretariat.
