article on BBC

[devilgas]

Norway's underwater 'guinea pigs' - BBC NEWS | Magazine | Norway's underwater 'guinea pigs'

[The complete goggler]

Its interesting how they figure that the divers were driven by 'greed' - if so, then all of us who aspire to a higher paid occupation/position can be tared with the same. Its also interesting that a sat divers present-day earnings of 20k-ish per month hasn't moved on much from the '70's.

David

[witchieblackcat]

Originally Posted by The complete goggler

Its interesting how they figure that the divers were driven by 'greed' - if so, then all of us who aspire to a higher paid occupation/position can be tarred with the same.

Originally Posted by BBC

Tempted by the high rewards - some would say greed - hundreds of British deep-sea divers took part in the exploration of the North Sea oil fields in British and Norwegian territorial waters.

They said some may see it as greed not that it was.

Originally Posted by The complete goggler

Its also interesting that a sat divers present-day earnings of 20k-ish per month hasn't moved on much from the '70's.

Originally Posted by BBC

According to a 1975 article in the Times, a North Sea deep-sea diver could earn as much as £2,000 a month - the equivalent of £14,000 today.

err... Looks like they've had a pay rise

[The complete goggler]

They said some may see it as greed not that it was.

They had no reason to use the word 'greed' at all, the fact that they did I read as an allegation... I mean, who exactly are the 'some' refered to?

err... Looks like they've had a pay rise

The 'equivalents' - 14k to 20k - whats that, about 35% in as many years? How much has an electricians dosh increased since 1971? I'm not complaining about our present pay scale - that might be construed as greed - though I hope it goes up next year

[Cussy]

Originally Posted by The complete goggler

They had no reason to use the word 'greed' at all, the fact that they did I read as an allegation... I mean, who exactly are the 'some' refered to?

I totally agree with you there, there was no need to say greed. Everyone accepts that high risk jobs get paid more, and if every diver was just there for greed then there would have been far more deaths. This is a story about divers not getting the duty of care that everyone should expect, and that single statements adds a bit of doubt to the reader that the divers may have been reckless just in the pursuit of money. Had this been about deep military divers, if they exist, it would have said something like "hero".

Shame on the BBC.
Rob

[The complete goggler]

Originally Posted by Cussy

I totally agree with you there, there was no need to say greed. Everyone accepts that high risk jobs get paid more, and if every diver was just there for greed then there would have been far more deaths. This is a story about divers not getting the duty of care that everyone should expect, and that single statements adds a bit of doubt to the reader that the divers may have been reckless just in the pursuit of money. Had this been about deep military divers, if they exist, it would have said something like "hero".

Shame on the BBC.
Rob

I wish that I had said it like that Rob. Its worth bearing in mind that the majority of the guys who headed to the North Sea (the unknown and the unsafe) in those early days were just like many on this site - BSAC dive club members with little or no knowledge or training in commercial diving work - they just signed-up and did it. Sadly, there are too many no longer with us and some that are with us are in wheelchairs. Balls of brass come to mind.

Unbelievably, the Gulf of Mexico with hundreds of offshore installations and major repair works after hurricane Kattrina (it'll take years to put that right) is at the stage the N Sea was in the 70's - antiquated diving practices and no firm HSE policies - a place to avoid.

David

[stew]

Originally Posted by witchieblackcat

Originally Posted by The complete goggler
Its also interesting that a sat divers present-day earnings of 20k-ish per month hasn't moved on much from the '70's.
---------------------------------
Originally Posted by BBC
According to a 1975 article in the Times, a North Sea deep-sea diver could earn as much as £2,000 a month - the equivalent of £14,000 today.
--------------------------------
err... Looks like they've had a pay rise

not quite right, perhaps misinterpretated by the BBC or researchers..
air divers today in the north sea can earn around 12-13k a month,
sat divers are on a lot more than that at 30k+ a month, paid at least 1k a day, from seal to seal.

.............& deserve every penny of it in my book.

[stew]

Originally Posted by The complete goggler

Unbelievably, the Gulf of Mexico with hundreds of offshore installations and major repair works after hurricane Kattrina (it'll take years to put that right) is at the stage the N Sea was in the 70's - antiquated diving practices and no firm HSE policies - a place to avoid.

David

the north sea door is locked to most divers who dont have 2 years+ off-shore experience or know someone who can 'get them in'.
no experience = no offshore job = no offshore money = working inshore = inshore rates.
the GOM has a higher fatality rate as it has a large amount of divers, unacceptable i agree.
more or less appealing than starting in the west coast of africa?

catch 22... so you gotta start somewhere if you want to work off-shore.

[The complete goggler]

Originally Posted by stew

not quite right, perhaps misinterpretated by the BBC or researchers..
air divers today in the north sea can earn around 12-13k a month,
sat divers are on a lot more than that at 30k+ a month, paid at least 1k a day, from seal to seal.

.............& deserve every penny of it in my book.

If you work the Norwegian side of the N S you won't get 30 days in the bin Stew that's why I stated '20k-ish'. You are wrong to equate numbers of divers in the GoM with fatalities, its all about working practices and theirs are the most dangerous ie live-boating on surface gas and very deep air dives. Its up to the indevidual to make up their own minds regarding whether the GoM is worth the risk... personally I give it a wide berth and will until they get some kind of HSE going there.

[stew]

Originally Posted by The complete goggler

If you work the Norwegian side of the N S you won't get 30 days in the bin Stew that's why I stated '20k-ish'. You are wrong to equate numbers of divers in the GoM with fatalities, its all about working practices and theirs are the most dangerous ie live-boating on surface gas and very deep air dives. Its up to the indevidual to make up their own minds regarding whether the GoM is worth the risk... personally I give it a wide berth and will until they get some kind of HSE going there.

sorry, i quoted the uk sector rates, your right about norway, my mistake.
as for the GOM, no death is acceptable no matter the numbers but the sad fact is the GOM has been slated for a long time over these issues and still has the same problems.
unfortunatly more will suffer before something is done about it.

would i work there?... yes i would for the experience. sad but true.