Training Accreditation

The first soft ground pressurised TBM started work in Australia on the Sydney Airport Link rail tunnel in 1997. Hyperbaric training for workers on this tunnel, and all subsequent pressurised tunnels in Australia, up to 2009, was on an agreed basis between the trainer and the construction companies. No project recognised training from a previous project and often the same workers were re-trained three and four times with similar courses

Accreditation Details

Accreditation of the Hyperbaric Workers Course and the Lock Operators Course, under the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), is an attempt to standardise the training and have the competencies nationally recognised so that workers can carry the qualification from project to project.

As many of the competencies required by the hyperbaric tunnel worker are the same as commercial diver competencies, Pressureworx chose the Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme as the most appropriate Registered Training Organisation (RTO) to register the competencies and issue the training certification.

The Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme (ADAS) is the Australian national occupational diver certification scheme. It was developed by the Australian Government as a not-for-profit diver training and accreditation scheme operating at the level of world best practice. It is administered on a cost-recovery basis by the ADAS Board under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Commonwealth Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism. Because of this link all ADAS certification cards, including the tunnelling certification cards, have the authority to bear the Australian Coat of Arms.

The ADAS diver certification is embedded in the legislation of most states and has world wide credibility and recognition. Pressureworx students who complete accredited courses can be awarded Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualifications as well as Pressureworx course completion certification.

VET Qualifications

Vocational qualifications are awarded under the national vocational education and training arrangements (the AQF), in recognition of the academic aspects of the training.

Vocational education and training (VET) is ‘education and training for work’. It exists to develop and recognise the competencies or skills of learners.

Vocational qualifications are awarded in recognition of the skills and knowledge needed to achieve competency in a particular area, rather than on the type or length of a course that has been undertaken. This means that they make it easier for employers to work out what a person with a particular qualification can do. For more information on vocational education and training, visit the website of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DWEER) www.dest.gov.au

ADAS has registered competencies for Hyperbaric Workers and for Lock Operators working on pressurised tunnel boring machines and, on successful completion of these courses, fully accredited VET certificates 3 or 4 will be issued by ADAS, provided the training has been delivered and assessed by an ADAS accredited Training and Assessment Manager and all appropriate fees have been paid.