The European and ISO Standards define the state of the art for safety and quality in scuba diver and scuba instructor training.
However:
- How can a training organisation prove credibly that their training meets all requirements of the European Standard?
- How can the consumer or an authority be sure that the requirements of the relevant standard are really fulfilled by a training organisation?
Solution:
- EUF has teamed with the Austrian Standards and Certification body, AS+C and contracted AS+C to administer EUF Certification International. EUF Certification International conducts audits using AS+C expert inspectors to validate training organisations and dive service providers against relevant ISO standards.
- Successful audits result in the issuance of a certificate with a maximum validity of five years. Renewal involves a further audit.
How it works:
- Who can apply?
All entities directly providing recreational scuba diving training systems and certification and which assume responsibility for the implementation and quality management of scuba diver and scuba instructor training can apply for certification. - Document review
On submission of the application for certification, the training organisation must provide specified information and documentation (e.g. training standards, training material for students). These are checked as to whether they meet the requirements of the applicable standards and justify the performance of on-site audits. - Audit team
Assessments within the framework of the certification procedures are carried out by an audit team. This audit team is composed of a Lead Auditor who is appointed by the Austrian Standards Institute and a Technical Auditor who is a professional from the diving training industry. - On-site audits
In order to validate the practical aspects of the training system, on-site audits are performed by the observation of a number of scuba diver and scuba instructor training events at appropriate levels. The number of training events to be audited is determined from the number of certifications issued per year.
Issue of certificate
The EUF Certification Body assesses on the basis of the report from the evaluation of the documentation and the on-site audits as to whether the training organisation has met all requirements in accordance with the European Standards. The certificate will be valid for a maximum of 5 years.