BOSIET vs HUET: Does Your Crew Need BOSIET or Just HUET? Here’s How to Tell

BOSIET vs HUET confuses a lot of people, and it’s easy to clear up. Here’s why: BOSIET is the minimum offshore survival certification for seafarers working on offshore platforms and certain vessels, as required by applicable regulations. HUET, on the other hand, certifies you specifically for helicopter travel to and from those platforms, plants, or vessels.

NOIAA LTD is the only OPITO-approved training centre in the Central Africa sub-region, so however you get certified, you’re covered.

Good news if you don’t need the full course: HUET is also available on its own. Say you already hold onshore or vessel safety certification and just need the helicopter piece; standalone HUET has you covered without booking BOSIET in full.

That said, most workers end up needing BOSIET anyway. It’s the fuller program: HUET plus a few other modules, and it’s what most legislation actually requires for offshore work.

What’s Actually Inside BOSIET vs HUET Course

What BOSIET Covers

BOSIET: Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training is made up of 4 modules,

OIS-01 through OIS-04: Offshore Safety Induction, Helicopter Safety & Escape (which covers HUET), Sea Survival & Emergency First Aid, and Firefighting & Self-rescue.

What HUET Covers

The Helicopter Underwater Escape Training, which covers helicopter safety & escape, with a division in the helicopter/travel-and-emergencies module: theory, EBS, pool practical. Confirmed, no blockers.

Comparison Table

So, Which One Does Your Crew Actually Need?

A standalone HUET booking doesn’t require a prior BOSIET certificate; confirm current intake criteria with our team. But the client would be advised to purchase BOSIET instead if the work destination is not only a vessel but an offshore oil/gas platform, since BOSIET contains HUET.

A refresher may be done for BOSIET if the certification is still valid or expires in a year; here, the client can purchase the FOET (5858 – Further Offshore Emergency Training) bookable NOIAA product.

Personal Note

A recent client came to us with exactly this question. They needed offshore certification, but weren’t sure whether to complete the full BOSIET programme or book HUET on its own.

“This confusion is common,” says Abang Mukete, Instructor at NOIAA LTD. “Workers know they need something. They don’t always know which certification actually matches their job.”

We reviewed the client’s offshore role and the certification their employer required. In most cases, we recommend BOSIET. It’s the more comprehensive option, and HUET is already built into it, so BOSIET covers the helicopter-escape training and three additional safety modules in one course.

But BOSIET isn’t always the right fit. When a client’s role and employer requirements don’t call for the full programme, standalone HUET can be the appropriate choice instead. Both certifications carry a four-year validity period, regardless of which path a worker takes.

Conclusion

To conclude here, BOSIET and HUET aren’t competing certifications; one just happens to sit inside the other. HUET only covers helicopter transit while BOSIET covers that, plus the platform-based safety training most offshore legislation actually requires.

The real question you should be asking isn’t which course is “better.” It’s which one matches your actual job. When you get that wrong, you might either overpay for training you didn’t need, or show up to mobilization without the certification your role requires.

So make sure that before you book, you check whether your role involves working on the platform itself, or just getting there? That answer will tell you whether you need BOSIET or HUET, and it’s the same question our Sales team asks every client who calls us confused about the difference.