Dr. Merta possesses nearly thirty years of extensive international experience
in the areas of advanced subsea technology operations, modern safety
management, risk analysis, incident and accident investigation, onshore
oil and gas pipelines as well as facilities inspections, management safety
audits, and regulatory development stemming primarily from his involvement
in the oil and gas industry, subsea services industry and in the government
service.
In addition to his longstanding position as the Chief Inspector of Diving
for the Government of Canada, he has been appointed under the Canada Oil
and Gas Act by the Minister for Energy Mines and Resources as
a Conservation Officer, and under the Canada Labour Code Part II,
as a Heath and Safety Officer. Furthermore, he has been designated under
the National Energy Board Act as an Inspection Officer for the Canadian Oil
and Gas Industry.
Accredited by Det Norske Veritas as Safety Auditor and by the USA based
Institute of Marine Safety Auditors as Marine Safety and Management
Systems Auditor, Dr. Merta has been widely recognized as an authority and
leader in the areas of safety related to the Oil and Gas activities both
onshore and offshore, as well as technological innovation and operations
planning. Over the years he coordinated and monitored number of
development projects and large scale safety programs both in Canada
and Abroad, and successfully performed the duties and responsibilities
of Director of Research and Development, Operations Manager,
Project Manager, Training and Safety Manager, as well as those of
Deep Sea Diver, Supervisor and Safety Inspector in the oil and
gas field operations.
For the last 20 years he has been working for the Federal Government's
departments of the Canada Oil and Gas Lands Administration
and the National Energy Board as the Chief Inspector of Diving with
expanded duties as a Health and Safety Inspector and
Management Safety Auditor for the Oil and Gas Industry under
the National Energy Board's jurisdiction.
During his career, Dr. Merta has worked with diverse groups of people,
at all levels of involvement, in both the Public and the Private sectors.
His assignments have taken him to Canada, U.S.A., Africa, Middle East,
throughout Western Europe, including the Scottish, Dutch and
Norwegian sectors of the North Sea.
As the first Canadian Chief Inspector of Diving, he has been responsible
for the development of all facets of Canada's offshore oil and gas
technical and safety standards and regulations pertaining to the utilization
of subsea services, as well as official responsibilities attendant to its
legislative enactment and implementation. This encompassed the
development of all relevant administrative aspects, including operational
policies and procedures. He also drafted, in accordance with
the Onshore Pipeline Regulations, an appropriate Facility Inspections
Procedures and Protocols.
Since 1981, he has been instrumental in developing Canadian subsea
operations as well as technical, safety and training standards to
a recognized level of international excellence, which now serve as a
program standard for a number of other countries. Furthermore,
while in the government service he wrote, and now interpret and
reinforce diving rules, examine oil and Gas industry applications
for inshore activities and offshore diving programs, and make
recommendation for the issuance of operational permits.
He certified all the oil field divers and dive related personnel including
the diving doctors, appropriate training establishments, and relevant
diving plants and equipment. In addition he carries out periodical
safety inspections on the offshore drilling rigs, drillships,
and installations operating in Canadian waters and investigate all the
oil related diving incidents, accidents and fatalities, including the sinking
of the oil rig "Ocean Ranger". He also acted as Safety Advisor and
diving expert on several high visibility salvage projects including the
Air India crash, Ocean Ranger and Piper Alpha marine disasters,
Irwing Whale salvage, as well as the gold recovery from the
battleship H.M.S. Edinburgh.
In addition to the above responsibilities for the last five years he has
been conducting comprehensive Management Safety Audits
as wellas Facilities Inspections which include all the compressors
and pumps stations in addition to meter stations, main line valves
and the above ground piping of all the oil and gas companies that
are subject to the National Energy Board jurisdiction.
In his role as a Research and Development Coordinator, he has
been responsible, as a Project Manager and Scientific Authority,
for over forty high visibility industry and Government sponsored
R&D programs in the areas of offshore safety, innovative technology
and hyperbaric medicine. He has been awarded a number of
British patents and patents-pending for his work. On behalf of his
department, he spent eight years as a Board Member of the Marine
Engineering Committee on a governmental panel for Energy,
Research and Development.
In course of his career Jan held various managerial responsibilities.
He managed diving programs of a foreign based operations
in Kuwait, Dubai, Egypt and the North Sea, and furthered his
expertise in the development of a risk assurance analysis,
comprehensive safety and management audits, including the
design of a technical, safety and operational procedures and
training curriculums. He identified and drafted some of the diving
and safety related governmental, administrative, operational and
inspection policies, gave legislative, technical and scientific
presentations at international conferences and symposiums,
and represented government on numerous committees, including
the high profile international meetings and negotiations. In addition,
he was in charge of a number of technical, personnel and safety
departments, including two Canadian companies, diving hospital
in Scotland, and the field, operations in Egypt and Kuwait.
Throughout, Dr. Merta has produced and reviewed countless
regulatory draft documents, grants applications, R&D proposals,
contracts, bids, Emergency, Safety, as well as Operation and
Maintenance Manuals, performance standards, safety guides,
and technical documents, on behalf of the Legislative, Judicial,
and Energy Branches of the Canadian Government; namely,
the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR), Canada
Oil and Gas Lands Administration (COGLA), National Energy
Board (NEB), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA),
the Canadian Association of Diving Contractors (CADC),
Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB), the Department
of Transport, Department of Supply and Services, Canadian
Coast Guard (CCG), the Canada Nova Scotia and Canada
Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Boards, and the Private
Sector.
He drafted national training requirements and performance
criteria for the Canadian diving industry and wrote acclaimed
saturation diving tables and operational techniques. He has
been the author and co-author of numerous articles, including
various Safety Standards, Technical Codes, Guidelines,
as well as Canada Oil and Gas Diving Regulations,
Newfoundland and Nova Scotia Offshore Area Petroleum
Diving Regulations, and relevant administrative forms and
operational protocols for the Industry and for the Government.
In his role as the Chairman of a various Canadian Standards
Committees he has been responsible for the development of
a number of important technical and safety related National
Standards. These included thirteen years as the chair of the
Canadian General Standard Board's committee for the
development of all the survival suits and the work suits
used in the marine and the offshore oil and gas industry.
For his work and numerous professional accomplishments
he received many domestic as well as international awards
and industry recognitions including the nominations for the
Order of Canada and the Alberta Order of Excellence,
the highest awards Canada has to offer.
RESUME
Personal Particulars
Name Jan Merta de Velehrad
Born 24 April 1944 in Czechoslovakia
CitizenshipCanadian
Margaret Merta (wife)
EXPERIENCE
Government of Canada, Ministry of Energy,
Mines and Resources, (EMR) Ottawa,
and (NEB) Calgary
1981-Present
Chief Inspector of Diving and Health & Safety Officer
Responsible for all facets of safety, as well as management
and administration of all subsea and marine activities
associated with the development of Canadian oil and gas
resources. The mandate includes development of all the
dive related regulatory requirements, relevant legislative
guidelines, safety standards, international cooperation,
and coordination, and approval of related research and
development activities in the areas of marine and subsea
technology on behalf of the Executive Branches of EMR,
namely, the Canada Oil and Gas Lands Administration
(COGLA) and the National Energy Board (NEB).
Other duties include field inspections as well as
management safety audits, construction and facilities
inspections of onshore oil and gas companies and
offshore facilities,, accident/incident investigations,
approvals of safety and operational programs,
personnel, companies and equipment certifications,
supervision of the field inspectors, management
of relevant administrative programs, and overseeing
safety of subsea operations taking place in
the Canadian offshore.
Notable achievements:
In addition to the operation of the Federal Diving
Inspectorate, Jan founded the Canadian Association
of Diving Contractors and designed Canadian
commercial diving regulations. He supervised a
number of high visibility R&D projects, initiated,
and was responsible for various studies and surveys,
including a pioneering study on "Market Feasibility
of Telerobotic Systems for Undersea Inspection
and Repair of Offshore Drilling and production
Equipment", international study on "Development
feasibility of an autonomous underwater vehicle
for depths to 20,000' fsw", as well as a large
engineering study on "The evaluation of emergency
equipment and sea rescue techniques from offshore
drilling units in Canadian waters". As a Chairman of
the Canadian General Standards Board Committee
for survival Suits and member of other national
technical committees, he participated in the
development of 19 technical and safety related
standards and as a Project Manager and Scientific
Authority for over thirty R&D programs, he
significantly contributed to the workers safety,
and to the development of the new generation
of advanced subsea and marine technology.
Oceaneering International (Houston, Texas)
1979-1981
Director of Research and Development for this NASDAQ
diversified energy service company and worldwide
marine engineering and sub sea services contractor.
Responsible for research and development programs
related to subsea activities, including conceptual design
and procedural development associated with atmospheric
Diving Systems (ADS), underwater welding, Advanced
Underwater Technology program (AUT), and telerobotic
manipulators. Notable achievements in this latter category
included participation in the development of
remotely-controlled and telemetry-monitored "TIG" welding
procedures for use in extreme depths and in conjunction
with ADS. He supervised adaptation of the General
Electric "arm" manipulator for specific subsea applications,
and furthermore, he invented and pioneered the
development of the closed-circuit breathing gas recovery
system, emergency heated breathing system, and
emergency life support system.
Wharton Williams Limited, (Aberdeen, Scotland)
1977-1979
Special Projects Manager for one of the world's largest
North Sea area subsea engineering and services contractor.
Responsibilities included planning development and field
participation in running of initial offshore contracts, management
of company training, personnel as well as safety and operations
departments. His appointment as the head of Research
and Development resulted in several patents under his name.
His notable achievements included numerous innovations related
to emergency life support and hyperbaric rescue technology,
development of decompression tables and operational procedures,
saturation diving system components, and in the development
of wet welding techniques for structural applications in deepwater.
I.M.P.C.
International Marine Petroleum Company (Kuwait)
1976-1977
Divine Supervisor and later Safety Superintendent for I.M.P.C.
in Kuwait, Responsibilities included, setting up of diving operations,
installation of diving plant and equipment, supervision and project
management of the world's first commercial air saturation dives
conducted in the Persian Gulf at a depth of 240'.
International Underwater Contractors, Inc. (Dundee, Scotland)
1975-1976
Operational Manager for the world's first Hyperbaric Rescue Centre
(Diving Hospital) in Dundee, Scotland.
Responsibilities encompassed all facets of day-to-day operations
management including technical, administration and safety aspects
of running the Centre. This included supervision of experimental dives,
extensive training sessions for medical personnel and university staff,
as well as diving supervision of medically related treatments. Notable
accomplishments included leading participation in the construction
of this rescue centre, making it operational, and deliverance of
a lecture series at Dundee University on safety and emergency
response in deep sea diving and on maintenance of life support
systems.
Ocean Systems Inc. (Reston, USA)
1974-1975
Safety Officer and Diving Systems Engineer for this major
international commercial diving contractor. Duties included
primary responsibility for the development and administration
of field performance standards and safe operating practices,
policies and procedures for the company-wide implementation.
Additional responsibilities included design, modification,
assembly and operation of life support systems, saturation
diving systems and related equipment. Safety Manager in
support of a deep water (1500 feet) drilling program aboard
the Glomar Drillship "Coral Sea" in Egypt. The operator was
Exxon Egypt, and this was the first ever joint project between
USA and Egypt.
K.D. Marine Ltd. (Aberdeen, Scotland)
1973-1974
Deep Sea Diver and Divine System Specialist for this
commercial diving contractor providing diving services
to North Sea area clients. Additional responsibilities
included specialized assembly of diving equipment,
development of safety programs, as well as maintenance
and technical repairs on a wide range of diving
plant and equipment.
Jan's Publishing Co. Inc. (Montreal, Quebec)
1970-1972
President of the Company and Editor in Chief of a large
consumer type magazine, called "Market Place"
with a circulation of 50,000 published every two weeks,
as well as an international tourist magazine "Sign"
with a yearly circulation of 600,000, printed quarterly.
1962-1964 Czechoslovakia
Compulsory Army Service
EDUCATION
1959-1962
Technical Trade School, (Slusovice, Czechoslovakia),
Diploma in Production Engineering).
1964-1968
School of Social Law. (Prague, Czechoslovakia).
1969-1971
McGill University, (Montreal Canada), Bachelor of Science (B.Sc).
Major in Psychology/Zoology.
1974-1978
University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen. Scotland, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)
degree in Experimental Psychology
(Studies accomplished while working).
1985-1986
Carleton University, (Ottawa, Canada), Department of Civil Engineering
post-graduate course in Fire Protection Engineering.
1992-1994
International Loss Control Institute, (Atlanta. USA), diplomas
in Modern Safety Management, in Modern Safety Auditing,
in Accident Investigations,
in Modem Risk Management and in the Loss Control Management.
1974-1999
A number of other mostly specialized governmental, administrative
and industry related courses in areas of technical,
management, administrative, operational and safety subjects.
These include ISO 9000, Engineer-Geologist Program,
Conflict Resolution and Advanced Mediation, Fire Engineering,
RCMP Investigation, as well as all prescribed training necessary
for the various governmental appointments and safety designations.
OTHER RELATED EXPERIENCE (Certified)
1967
Stationary Engineer - Class III with an additional specialization in diesel
operated engines. (Czechoslovakia).
1967
Welding Certificate for Medium Pressure Vessels, (Czechoslovakia).
1977
Advanced First Aid, Institute of Environmental and Offshore Medicine,
(University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland).
1981
Engineer/Geologist Training Program, (Government Training Centre, Ottawa).
1981
Technical Reports Writing, and Oral Presentation (Ottawa).
1982
Certificate of Designation as Conservation Engineer, pursuant to Section 44
of the Canada Oil and Gas Production and Conservation Act.
1984
First Line Supervisor Blowout Prevention Course, Petroleum Industry Training
Service, (Calgary, Alberta).
1988
Designated as Safety Officer No: 2744 pursuant to the Canada Labour
Code Pan II.
1991
Basic Survival Training (BST) Certificate, (Halifax, Nova Scotia).
1995
Welding Inspector course (Calgary Institute of Technology)
1997
Advanced Mediation and Conflict Resolution
1998
Certificates in Industrial Hygiene -Part I and II.
1992
Accredited Safety Auditor (ILCI-Licence).
1993
Marine Safety Auditor (IMSA - Licence).
1991
Diplomate in Hyperbaric Medicine
2001
RCMP Investigations
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Member Underwater Medical Society (USA 1978)
Fellow Institute of Petroleum (U.K. 1981)
Member Institute of Patentees and Inventors (U.K. 1981)
Founder Fellow Institute of Diagnostic Engineers (U.K. 1981)
A/Member Institute of Mechanical Engineers (U.K. 1982)
Member British Psychological Society (1983)
Chairman Canadian General Standard Board Committee
for Survival Suits (1983)
Chairman Canadian Standards Association Committee for
Diving Competency (1993)
Member Canadian Society of Fire Protection Engineers (1985)
Fellow International Biographical Association,
(Cambridge, England) 1988
Member American College of Hyperbaric Medicine (1989)
Member American Society of Petroleum Engineers (1992)
Member Marine Technology Society (USA) 1989
Member Society of Marine Safety Auditors (USA) 1989
Member Submersible Pilot Association (USA) 1996
Member Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (USA) 1998
Member College of Hyperbaric Medicine (1988)
Vice-President International Hyperbaric Society, (Switzerland 1990)
TECHNICAL AND SAFETY RELATED PUBLICATIONS
Authored, Co-Authored or Participated In the Development
1982 "Occupational Safety Code for Hyperbaric Facilities",
Canadian Standards Association (CSA).
1982 "Occupational Safety Code for Diving Operations", (CSA),
1982 "Commercial Log Books", for Divers, Diving Supervisors,
ADS Pilots, and ADS Supervisors", issued by the Canadian
Association of Diving Contractors (CADC).
1984 "Code of Practice for the Operation of Manned-Submersible Craft",
Association of Offshore Diving Contractors in the U.K. (AODC).
1985 "Code of Practice for the Safe Use of Electricity Underwater", (AODC).
1986 A set of Government and administrative forms concerning the
applications for Authority to Dive and for Certification of Diving
Personnel, Diving Plant and Equipment. Canada Oil ' and Gas
lands Administration (COGLA).
1986 National Standards for: "Fishing Kit (survival), Hand Saw (survival),
Pocket Knife, Rescue blanket, Brass Wire Snare, Emergency
Signalling Mirror, and Distress Signalling Equipment Specification",
for the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB).
1987 "Welding Procedures and Requirements for Steel Structures", (CSA).
1987 Identification of Fire Hazards on Offshore Installations, Including
Various Methods of Prevention, Detection and Control
(Carleton University).
1986 "Helicopter Passenger Transportation Suit Systems", (CGSB).
1989 "Marine Abandonment Survival Suit Systems", (CGSB).
1989 "Marine Anti-Exposure Work Suits Systems", (CGSB).
1988 "Canada Oil and Gas Diving Regulations", (COGLA),
1988 "Newfoundland Offshore Area Petroleum Diving Regulations",
Canada Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board (CNOPB).
1988 Survival Suits Must Save Lives, GEOS, Vol. 17, No. 2.
1989 Survival Suits Meet New Standards, GEOS, Vol. 18, No. 2.
1989 International Training Codes for Divers, Diving Supervisors, ADS Pilots,
ADS Supervisors, Life Support Technicians, and Diving Safety Specialists",
(COGLA)
1989 "The Canada Oil and Gas Diving Guidelines for use with the Diving
Regulations (COGLA).
1990 "Safety in Welding, Cutting and Allied Process" (CSA).
1990 "Nova Scotia Offshore Area Petroleum Diving Regulations", Canada-Nova
Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB).
1991 "Occupational Safety Code for Diving Operations" (CSA).
1996 "National Standard for the Fire Protection Work Wear (CGSB).
1997 "Competency Standard for Diving Operations" (CSA).
Other Recipient of the national and international honours and numerous awards
for his serv to profession and the world community. Listed in major Canadian,
British, and American, biographical publications, cited in various books,
magazines, articles, and interviewed on many radio and TV programmes.
Over the years he lectured at a variety of semin conferences symposiums
and universities across North America, U.K. and Europe.
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