Two Portsmouth offshore divers banned from profession for fraud with company director also punished

The pair from Portsmouth have had their diving qualifications withdrawn following an investigation from the government’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE). They made false claims of diving experience that could have jeopardised their own lives and those of other professionals.

The director of a commercial diving company fraud signed off that jobs took place. The trio all received police cautions for fraud. HSE diving inspector Phil Crombie said: “You need diving experience to become a qualified closed bell diver and making it up could put your life and other divers at risk.

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“Offshore diving contractors need to use qualified divers and these men could have worked anywhere across Great Britain. If we hear divers have made up their experience in order to get onto a closed bell course, we will look very carefully at all of the records available."

HSE received information in December 2022 that the two divers may have obtained their closed bell qualifications without the necessary prior experience.

Concerns were raised that their lack of experience could result in an incident offshore, as the pair worked for contractors in the North Sea. Saturation divers – also known as closed bell divers – need an approved qualification.

Only two dive schools worldwide offer the qualification – INPP in Marseille, France, and the Commercial Dive Academy in Tasmania, Australia. Both were contacted by the HSE, who obtained details of the dives submitted to the schools by the divers as part of their enrolment.

Inspectors followed up the information with multiple British diving contractors to check if their experience was genuine. It is a legal requirement for diving contractors to keep records of dives for two years.

They provided the HSE with accurate details of dive depths and times for the individuals concerned. The company director – who received the police caution – was unable to provide records, despite having signed and stamped the diver’s logbook himself.

Inspector Crombie added: “A logbook is a document required by law, and making false entries is a criminal offence. The police cautions issued meant that we were able to have the qualifications withdrawn quickly by the relevant authorities.

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“Closed bell courses cost over fifteen thousand pounds for a diver – and these divers have ended up losing that without gaining a qualification. It’s just fortunate that they weren’t involved in any accident or incident.”

HSE inspectors went to the location where the dives were claimed to have happened – determining that none took place. All three individuals admitted they had made false entries into logbooks.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary officer, Alam Mahmmued, said: “The men involved in this case did not have the requisite experience to undertake dive work of this nature, posing a serious risk of harm to themselves. This is in addition to their actions which clearly amounted to criminal offences.

“We take any aspect of fraud seriously and we were pleased to collaborate with HSE to achieve a suitable outcome in this case. We hope this will in turn reduce the likelihood of any further offending. If offending continues, then these individuals face severe consequences in the criminal courts.”

HSE have declined to release the names of the individuals.