ISO approves 6 Diving Standards
The International Standards Organization (ISO) is the largest developer of technical standards which positively impact our global society. In January 2007, six (6) recreational diving standards were approved. With the involvement of diver training organizations from many countries, ISO was able to act as a bridging organization to bring them all together to approve one standard that will be implemented world wide.

The ISO is a network of national standards institutes from 157 countries with a central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland that coordinates the system. For the United States, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is the ISO representative. As the ANSI Accredited Standards Developer for recreational diving standards and safety, the Recreational Scuba Training Council (RSTC) actively participated in the ISO standards approval process.

Although some of the terminology is different, the long-standing industry standards developed by the RSTC are consistent with the applicable ISO Standards, as identified in the following chart.

At a recent meeting, the members of the Recreational Scuba Training Council of Canada determined it was important to provide collective clarification regarding agency neutral on-line training programs.Over the past two to three years a number of websites not affiliated with a training agency have launched on-line scuba training programs. On these sites, the customer is lead to believe that all training agencies will accept these programs to meet their academic requirements for scuba training. This is not correct. Because of concerns about the educational validity of these programs and the inability to monitor the quality of education and services, as well as liability and insurance issues, each RSTCC member organization has independently determined it cannot accept these non-affiliated training programs to meet its academic requirements.Before customers sign up for any on-line training program, they should first check with training agency they wish to receive certification through to verify if that on-line program is acceptable for meeting the training agency’s requirements.

The RSTCC consists of American and Canadian Underwater Certifications (ACUC),Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), Scuba Diving International (SDI)
Scuba Schools International (SSI) and meets throughout the year to deal with issues involving training in the scuba industry.

For additional information on Recreational Scuba Training Council of Canada, contact any member organization or contact info@wrstc.com.

At a recent meeting, the members of the Recreational Scuba Training Council determined it was important to provide collective clarification regarding agency-neutral on-line training programs.
Over the past two to three years a number of websites not affiliated with a training agency have launched on-line scuba training programs. On these sites, the customer is lead to believe that all training agencies will accept these programs to meet their academic requirements for scuba training. This is not correct. Because of concerns about the educational validity of these programs and the inability to monitor the quality of education and services, as well as liability and insurance issues, each RSTC member organization has independently determined it cannot accept these non-affiliated training programs to meet its academic requirements.

Before customers sign up for any on-line training program, they should first check with the retail store, instructor or training agency they wish to receive certification through to verify if that on-line program is acceptable for meeting the training agency’s requirements.