Commercial Divers Safety Network

Latest News

Aug. 2011

Confirmed by direct communications with the OSHA Washington DC Office that the OSHA Commercial Diving Regulations do not state that only those divers that have a commercial divers certification are considered to comply with 1910.410(a)(1) Each dive team member shall have the experience or training necessary to perform assigned tasks in a safe and healthful manner.

What this says is exactly as it's worded. In Appendix A of CFR 1910 is states that OSHA considers, and that's the key word, considers, divers that have a commercial certification card to meet this requirements. This does not, by any means say that's the only training they will accept. The fact is that if you can document and prove to OSHA's satisfaction that you have properly trained and documented your divers training you do not have to have a commercial certification to fully comply with regulations. The exact same thing also applies to the USCG regulations.

What does this mean, especially to small diving contractors? It's simple. If you have a comprehensive and detailed diver training program and you follow that policy with proper training and documentation you are not required by any government agency to hire only commercial certified divers.

Sept. 2011

Delivered a Safe Practice/Safety Manual and a detailed Diver Training Policy to a small diving company in Michigan.

Jan. 2011

Instigated a OSHA general safety inspection of a Swimming Pool inspection and maintenance company in South FL that was performing commercial diving operations not in accordance with 29 CFR 1910 Part T. ( report pending)

Dec. 2010

Performed an internal audit of Diving Safety Programs and Procedures. Inspected diving equipment, divers work shop and ancillary equipment for Hydrex LLC in Clearwater FL. Made recommendations for improvement and delivered a Safe Practice Manual.

Aug. 2010

Dept of Energy Strategic Petroleum Reserves

On-site review and audit of diving contractor’s dive plans, safety procedures, safe practice manual, training policies and equipment.

Mar. 2010

Developed and wrote a Safe Practice Manual for Diving Services Inc. Delivered the manual in electronic format.

OSHA Directive Defines CFR Regulations

OSHA’s Directive CPL-02-00-143 clearly defines some of the specific requirements in CFR 29, 1910 Part T. Commercial Diving. In particular the minimum training for personnel and the minimum crew sizes are defined. Prior to this Directive there was much leeway in the interpretation of these specific regulations especially regarding training requirements? The new Directive pretty much states that recreational training, i.e., SCUBA training, is not sufficient to meet OSHA requirements. It also clearly states that the minimum crew size is 3 men, regardless of the diving mode.Read More »

Feb. 2009

Commercial Diving in swimming pools

In a recent conversation and via email inquiries, OSHA’s Director of Maritime Enforcement in Washington DC has clearly stated that no matter the venue, swimming pools, wading pools, whatever, if you are performing diving services for pay, you are required to comply with CFR 29 1910, Part T Commercial Diving. Companies that use SCUBA to perform simply acts such as leak detection and repair in both residential and commercial pools are required to fully comply with all regulations.

05/28/2007

St. Mary's to stop diver treatment

Scuba divers on the Treasure Coast who need emergency treatment for decompression sickness no longer will be taken to St. Mary's Medical Center after that West Palm Beach hospital announced it is discontinuing such treatments... Read More »

05/22/2007

Rechargeable Battery Fire Hazard

Safety alert from DIVECON. Several incidents have recently occurred bringing our attention to the hazards of routine rechargeable battery use.. Read More »

05/19/2007

From the U. S. Coast Guard

The Minerals Management Services (MMS) and the U.S. coast Guard have observed that the increased commercial diving activity has been accompanied by an increase in diver fatalities and injuries.

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Mission Statement

The Commercial Divers Safety Network ( CDSN ) is an association of working commercial divers, dive company owners and dive instructors whose collective goal is promoting diving safety, improving training standards and providing a common and collective voice for the commercial diving community. We also have commercial diving services and resources for all aspects of the industry.

Our association members are ADCI and HSE certified commercial divers with a combined experience of over 80 years in all fields of commercial diving including Bell Diving, Mixed Gas, Saturation, ROV's, Deep Air, Nuclear and Fossil Power Plants and plain old mud diving. Our Sport and Technical expertise includes SCUBA Instruction, Scientific, Treasure Hunting, Deep Air, Surface Supplied Air and Nitrox diving.

About the Author

Hank Fannin has been a commercial diver for over 30 years. He currently owns and operates Encore Underwater and Affordable Leak Detection. Comments are welcome from all concerned parties and can be emailed to hankfannin@comcast.net