The star of the “A Day in the life of a Survitec Survival Suit”, a short film Survitec will premiere at the Offshore Europe trade show, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is undoubtedly the 1000 Series Passenger suit.
Although Ross Johnston, Survitec’s Head of Sales, Aberdeen has a supporting role and helicopter operator NHV Group has a cameo appearance, it is the Survitec 1000 Series suit that has the most screen time, with cameras following the suit from service and inspection through to delivery.
Capturing the attention-to-detail with which the world’s leading safety and survival specialist applies during the manufacturing, servicing and inspection processes, the YouTube film showcases the time, expertise and stringent quality control procedures undertaken to ensure that every Survitec survival suit is tailored to not only meet but exceed both regulatory and customer standards.
“The film is intended to shine a light on an aspect of our operations that often go unnoticed. It presents a dynamic first-hand perspective of the day in the life of a Survitec survival suit for use in offshore operations, a harsh weather environment where more than 2 million passengers are transferred to the North Sea alone each year,” says Johnston.
The 1000 Series Passenger suit is recognised widely as the industry standard, designed specifically for the offshore passenger environment.
Customers can choose to purchase and own a suit, or they can rent from our rental pool. Renting a suit provides total peace of mind, enabling access to our service and inspection programme whereby every suit will come back to Survitec after each transfer for a thorough inspection with maintenance carried out as required.
As part of the manufacture process the fabric is cut onsite and components are then sent to Survitec’s manufacturing teams, who tailor the garment, sewing in the requisite components. Every Survitec suit is hand-made in a way, with the option to customise to suit specific requirements, not dissimilar to that of a Saville Row tailor.
Once sewn, all seams are hot taped to ensure the suit is completely water-tight before quality control inspectors assesses the standard of workmanship to ensure the suit meets the customers’ specific requirements. It is then rigorously air tested in accordance with class procedures before certificates are issued and the suit is despatched to the customer.
“One of our most unique features is our ability to offer a bespoke service to meet specific customer requirements. We provide a made-to-measure service mainly for aircrew customers who require optimum fit for pilot and search and rescue (SAR), crewman use, our bespoke service also supports passenger requirements outside of the perceived standard size. Additionally, our rental suit fleet is available in a wide range of size options to ensure the perfect fit for both male and female passengers,” says Johnston.
“Robust attention to detail is applied every step of the way to ensure passengers and pilots are as safe as possible. It is worth noting that when the suits are delivered there is a dedicated Survitec representative on hand to provide wearers with a detailed safety briefing on the use of the suit,” he adds
This is only the first part in the process. If part of our rental pool the suit becomes part of our survival suit rental, service and inspection programme. The suit will be programmed into the Survitec asset management system where it manages the full life cycle of the garment, recording its every move, service, repair, flight ID and offshore location. Prior to each flight, label details are printed along with the passenger names allocated to specific serial numbers for ease of distribution at the heliport. Once the passenger has finished with the suit it will come back to the Survitec site for a full service and inspection.
This major inspection consists of a wash, dry and air test. If any defects are witnessed during the air test, the appropriate repair is carried out. If a repair has been carried out, the suit will then go back to get a repeat air test to ensure the repair was successful. All works are rigorously recorded within our asset tracking process to remain in tight control of all our assets.
A visual inspection consists of a visual check of the wrist and neck seals, main body zip, and the general appearance of the suit. If any issues are witnessed the suit will go straight for a major inspection. All inspection and repair details are logged in the asset tracking system. Once the suit has been certified serviceable, it is taken to the appropriate storage area at the required helicopter transfer site to be issued to allocated passenger.
“Above all, the team at Survitec is intensely passionate about meeting customers’ needs and keeping personnel as safe as possible. With over 35% of the team in Aberdeen having worked for the company for more than 10 years and some hitting their 20 and 30-year milestones, it really shows the loyalty and breadth of experience within the team,” Johnston says.