2021 Derek Craig Award

Congratulations to Corry Van den Broek on receiving the 2021 Derek Craig Award.

The Derek Craig Award for Improving Occupational Diver Safety is a perpetual award overseen by ADAS which recognises innovation or exceptional effort to advance the safety of the working occupational diver.

Corry Van den Broek was nominated in late 2019 to receive the award, and after careful consideration he was found to be an ideal recipient. However, due to COVID restrictions and other logistic issues, his 2021 award was finally presented to him in August 2022 by Dr Sarah Lockley (ADAS Board member) and Clinical Professor David Smart.

Corry was a Royal Australian Navy Chief Petty Officer and Clearance Diver prior to being appointed as Technical manager at the Royal Hobart Hospital Diving and Hyperbaric facility in 1998.

Whilst working at the Royal Hobart Hospital, he continued as a RAN Chief Petty Officer/Clearance Diver Reserve, and he retired from both roles in 2020.

At Royal Hobart Hospital, he was the safety manager for the Diving and Hyperbaric State Referral Centre, and played a leading role in the quality assurance and operational safety for three generations of multiplace hyperbaric chambers and three monoplace chambers.  His work with the Royal Hobart Hospital Hyperbaric team led to improved safety for chamber attendants and patients alike.

Along with improved safety in clinical hyperbaric chambers, Corry used his internationally recognised skills in Doppler ultrasound to facilitate development and testing of multiple dive tables, including producing safe yo-yo diving tables for Tasmania’s Aquaculture industry.  Doppler ultrasound allows the evaluation of decompression stress in divers, to evaluate risk of decompression illness before it becomes symptomatic and problematic for the diver.

Corry’s contributions to safe deep dive table development were recognised around the world and he used his Doppler skills to assist multiple naval agencies including Dutch, Norwegian, Canadian, Australian, and Indonesian navies.

Congratulations, Corry, on this well deserved recognition and achievement.

More information about the award can be found on the Derek Craig Award page of the ADAS website.