Emilio, one of our dear colleagues (in Equipment Control), has retired. Our first Drass Retirement in fact!
For Emilio’s send off, a farewell party with refreshments was organised. Sergio Cappelletti, our MD, gave a speech recounting our fond memories of Emilio over the years and, on behalf of everyone at Drass, wished him the very best for the future. Gifts were presented and group photos were taken.
All at Drass wish Emilio a very happy retirement.
SUBSPEC, a Company of DRASS’ Group, continues to study, to propose and to certify new products for the diving market and not only.
This month it’s the turn of the BIBS MASK, that have obtained the DNVGL survey report and the compliance to the Norsok U101
What is it?: the acronym D.U.V.R.I. means “Documento Unico di Valutazione dei Rischi da Interferenza’; it is a document which an employer is obliged draw up each time an external contractor (or self-employed professional) is employed to operate within the company. The obligation to provide this document was introduced in the workplace safety guidelines in Legislative Decree 81/08 art .26 para. 3, adapted from the Legislative Decree 106 of 3 August 2009.
What is it for?: The function of the DUVRI is to ensure that the external contractor is informed of the health and safety risks within the workplace and of the measures of prevention and protection in place to reduce these risks.
When it is not obligatory: Legislative Decree 81/08 and “Action Decree” (in Italian the “Legge del fare”) 99/2013, state the following cases in which the DUVRI cannot be drawn up:
- subcontracting jobs of an intellectual nature;
- mere supply of materials or equipment;
- work or services which require 5 men / day or less, providing that they do not involve high risk of fire or the presence of carcinogens, biological agents, explosive atmospheres or specific risks connected to attachment XI of the Testo Unico (legislative decree regarding safety);
- activities which present a low accident /injury risk for both the customer and the subcontracted company, if the responsibility of supervision, coordination of work is entrusted to a qualified individual with the necessary training and experience related to the work at hand; this person shall also have an updated and direct knowledge of the working environment. (This responsibility must be specified in the contract).
Regarding work in a shipyard, if the Health & Safety Plan has not yet been drawn up, (title IV of Legislative Decree 81/08) it is not necessary to provide the DUVRI.
How is it drawn up?: The DUVRI is drawn up by the employer of the company requiring the collaboration and the employer of the subcontracted company, so as to reduce the risk of tendering interference.
The Drass Christmas dinner took place in the beautiful Hotel Continental on the coast in Tirrenia.
During the dinner, Drass and Subspec staff had the opportunity to become better acquainted with each other and spend a wonderful evening together. A series of team games was also organized which got everyone on their feet and teaming up with a lot of laughs and prizes along the way.
Happy Holidays and best wishes from everyone at Drass.
This month Drass staff convened for a ‘meeting’ as a special Christmas surprise for our bosses, Sergio and Marco.
We organised a presentation, a compilation of video bites, where employees had been randomly put on the spot to respond to various comical questions about the bosses. The occasion was a huge success with lots of laughter and Christmas cheer, along with a buffet of typical Italian Christmas specialities including delicious panettone and pandoro.
Merry Christmas and a happy new year from everyone at Drass.
Drass is happy to share with you an amazing experience underwater! Diving club “Sestante Diving” is lucky to have the expertise of Drass Robotics and Automation Engineer, Luca, on their team. The club’s recent dive was at “Le Formiche di Grosseto”, 10 miles from the coast.
The dive was planned with 35 minutes of bottom time at a depth of around 60 meters. The primary mix used was Trimix 18/45 (18% oxygen, 45% helium, 37% nitrogen). Nitrox 50 and pure oxygen are used during the decompression phase.
With DRASS you go DEEPER!!!
Drass R&D department continue to provide new and innovative products for the diving world. The latest component developed by DRASS is the new communication system with a new helium speech unscrambler algorithm (DRASS KOMMS). It is a wired communications system, designed to comply with the highest standards of the offshore industry. The system is a modern design concept which provides the optimum performance and numerous improvements if compared to the current communication systems available:
- Drass makes use of a fully-digital Helium Speech Unscrambler (HSU) with a superior unscrambling algorithm. Each inner communication box contains a depth sensor, meaning that each HSU is capable of setting the proper unscrambling algorithm for its actual depth in a way that is completely transparent for the operators at the consoles. Drass HSUs are integrated with a communication box, RTS-Telex devices (BOSCH Group), customized by Drass for hyperbaric use. The HSU is installed inside the hyperbaric environment (inner area). Such a solution is unique in the world of commercial diving and it technically improves the unscrambling performance by shifting the pitch of the voices directly from the chamber; it reduces the transmitted noise. Moreover, the allocation of dedicated unscramblers to each communication point increases the redundancy of the entire communication system. The external control console operator can eventually bypass the HSU.
- The system uses a state of the art commercial communication matrix for ship installation. It provides a more reliable and cost effective system, compared to the small production / prototype hyperbaric communication systems currently available on the market. The specific maintenance for DRASS KOMMS is limited to the replacement of one model only of communication box. This makes the vessel almost entirely independent from the assistance of the OEM.
- The outer area communication system is based on the same unit used for the diving system, so the outer area communications can be interfaced with the other units included into the diving system. This interface is very quick and after the re-configuration of the all units connected to the LAN network brings advantages to the captain when talking with the divers inside the chambers or with the supervisor in the Dive or Sat Room. This is very helpful during the coordination of a particular job in which it is necessary to put different groups of people into contact to coordinate the entire job.
- Drass communication system can be completely configured in terms of operability using the standard (and free) software provided by the Communication systems. The matrixes may be easily connected to the configuration PC via Ethernet, USB or serial link; the full physical customization of the system is ensured having the possibility to choose each specific component from a standard part list. If required, the whole system can be serviced remotely by Drass (this will require a remote connection to the vessel). It has the function “RealTime Online Configuration & Monitoring”, giving the opportunity to change the configuration of the matrix during normal activities, without any work stoppages. This is an advantage over the other commercial diving communication systems.
- Spare parts can be provided quickly thanks to it being the only type of communication unit model used inside the inner area and outer areas of the vessel. Moreover, the system can be delivered few weeks because the items are generally in stock. This is a huge advantage given that the standard delivery times for similar products on the market can be counted in months.
- The time required for maintenance is reduced greatly thanks to quick connector fitted on the inner area comms box, and for these reasons no screwdrivers for electrical connections are necessary. This makes the replacement operation easily doable to the divers themselves.
- Drass communication system can easily be integrated with Drass Multimedia System.
Usually redundant matrixes are assembled in the power supply and controller and have the hot-swap function. Finally one single brand/model of communication system can supply the vessel Intercom and the Diving Intercom, unifying them into a single network. The system is designed to connect up to thousands of links, mixing several different technologies at the same time: hardwired analog, wireless and several frequencies and modulation. Redundancy is provided as standard with dual power supply and dual controller, all hot swappabl
The Submarine Rescue Vehicle is the main payload for the Submarine Rescue Service.
It is available in two versions, the SRV300, capable of operating at 300 MSW hosting 12 persons in the rescue compartment, and the DSRV650, capable of operating at 650 MSW hosting 15 persons in the rescue compartment.
The Drass SRV300 model was displayed at the 32nd exhibition of the “Trofeo Accademia Navale” in Livorno. This exhibition takes place every year during the sailing competition organized by the Naval Accademy of Livorno.
Drass started the in house training of Chinese diving engineers to support the installation and commissioning of the diving systems delivered to ZPMC / Toisa and to CSSP Huang Pu / Jumeirah. The aim of this activity is to support Drass’ massive expansion in the Chinese market with a permanent presence. Aquifer Solutions of China is Drass’ partner for service activities in the local market.
