page_title: Diver training
section_title: Underwater work skills
hierarchical_section_title: Diver training / Underwater work skills
caption_attribution_description: English: BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (May 27, 2010) Navy Diver 2nd Class Sam Elliot, left, assigned to company 26 of Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) 2, instructs a Barbados Coast Guard diver on the proper way to use a hydraulic grinder underwater. MDSU-2 is participating in Navy Diver-Southern Partnership Station, a multinational partnership to increase interoperability and partner nation capacity through diving operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Chris Lussier/Released)
context_page_description: Diver training is the set of processes through which a person learns the necessary and desirable skills to safely dive underwater within the scope of the diver training standard relevant to the specific training programme. Most diver training follows procedures and schedules laid down in the associated training standard, in a formal training programme, and includes relevant foundational knowledge of the underlying theory, including some basic physics, physiology and environmental information, practical skills training in the selection and safe use of the associated equipment in the specified underwater environment, and assessment of the required skills and knowledge deemed necessary by the certification agency to allow the newly certified diver to dive within the specified range of conditions at an acceptable level of risk. Recognition of prior learning is allowed in some training standards.
  Recreational diver training has historically followed two philosophies, based on the business structure of the training agencies.
context_section_description: Underwater work skills may be included in professional diver training to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the requirements of the relevant training standard, which will specify the minimum, and the diving school, which may choose to offer more than the minimum as a premium service.
  Specialist work skills are generally not part of diver training, and are either learned at a specialist training facility, from the equipment manufacturer, or from the employer at the workplace.
  Training methods vary depending on the specific skill, but in many cases it is more effective to first learn the skill out of the water, where it is generally safer and easier, and where immediate feedback on problems is much simpler, then learn how to do it in the underwater environment. Some work skills used underwater are more complex and difficult to learn than diving skills – it is quicker to train a skilled welder to dive well than to train a skilled diver to weld well. This principle holds particularly for professional skills. A marine scientist or archaeologist may require 3 to 5 years full-time university study to become competent in their chosen field, but can be trained to do the relevant diving in about a month.
caption: Practical training on underwater tool use is common for professional divers. The tools will depend on the employment of the diver.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Bridgetown, Barbados - Navy Diver Second Class Sam Elliot, Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) Two, company 2-6,  instructs a Barbados Coast Guard diver on the proper way to use a hydraulic grinder underwater. MDSU is currently participating n Navy Diver - Southern Partnership Station (ND- SPS), a multinational partnership engagement designed to increase interoperability and partner nation capacity through diving operations.  (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Chris Lussier/Released)", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D3", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2010:05:28 09:25:25", "Image Artist": "MC2 Chris Lussier", "Image ExifOffset": "776", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1410", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4937", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/200", "EXIF FNumber": "11", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "250", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:05:27 11:27:30", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:05:27 11:27:30", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "477741/62500", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6918863/1000000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, return light detected", "EXIF FocalLength": "16", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "83", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "83", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4256", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2832", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "16", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}