Upskilling helicopter administrators focus of new OPITO Standard

Posted on 28 March 2023

OPITO, the global safety and skills organisation for the energy industry, has launched a new
Helicopter Administrator Training Standard to ensure increased competency and safety around helideck activity. The Standard was created in conjunction with Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) and industry in response to an amendment to CAP 437: Standards for offshore helicopter landing areas, within appendix K.

The offshore workforce and entire energy sector is reliant on safe transfers to offshore
installations in an open sea environment. The new Helicopter Administrator Training Standard
complies with the Civil Aviation Authority’s requirements for helicopter administrator training,
competence and safety. It will equip learners with the initial knowledge and understanding
necessary to provide the administrative support required to safely operate the helideck and
manage helicopter movements.

Ewen Hay, Director of Products, Services and Apprenticeships, said: “OPITO is committed to
creating workforce development solutions to build a safe and skilled energy workforce. The
launch of the Helicopter Administrator Training Standard will prepare helicopter administrators,
and others, to contribute meaningfully to ensuring safe operational activity in the challenging
offshore environment.”

During development, OPITO and OEUK engaged closely with industry stakeholders, including
Spirit Energy, Harbour Energy, bp, CNOOC, Repsol Sinopec, TAQA and TotalEnergies, to
ensure employer needs were met.

Graham Skinner, Health and Safety Manager at OEUK, said: “The UK’s offshore oil and gas
industry is supported by one of the most modern helicopter fleets in the world – and safe
helicopter operations is at the heart of what we do.

“Industry-led initiatives and research projects have brought safety improvements to operations in
recent years, and this is another step forward. We look forward to working with OPITO and our
members to ensure we support the roll-out of this new standard.”

The new Standard involves a half day of theory-based training and consists of five units:

- An introduction to legislative requirements and the role of the Heli Administrator
- Hazardous goods requirements
- Responsibilities during flight planning and manifesting
- Responsibilities during passenger and freight check-in and post check-in
- Responsibilities during post check-in

This Standard is designed for individuals who are new to the helicopter administrator role or have
not been successful in completing a workplace competence assessment. The Standard requires
the completion of the Dangerous Goods by Air training course, as well as training on a personnel
tracking system, prior to attendance.

The Helicopter Administrator Training Standard is now available for OPITO-approved centres
and others to apply for. For more information, please visit: https://opito.com/standards/helicopter-administrator-training-standard