Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(C) Diving procedures.
(1) Supervision.
A diver, lead diver, or dive supervisor, hereafter referred to
only as 'supervisor', shall be designated and shall be in charge of all diving
operations.
(2) Timekeeper.
One member selected from within the crew shall be designated
and instructed by the supervisor to perform the duties of timekeeper for each
dive.
(3) Activities of
others.
All parties whose activities in the area could create a hazard
to the diving operations shall be so notified by the supervisor and be kept
informed when such operations commence and when they are concluded.
(D) Personnel.
All diving personnel shall be properly qualified physically and
by training or experience to safely conduct a diving operation.
(1) Diver physical condition.
Divers suffering from severe colds, sinus infections, ear
trouble, alcoholic intoxication or its after-effects, acute illness or under
the influence of drugs shall not be required to dive.
(a) Frequency of examination.
All diving personnel must undergo a thorough physical
examination prior to initial exposure to hyperbaric conditions. Subsequent to
initial exam, all diving personnel shall be re-examined at twelve-month
intervals.
(b) Physician
statement.
A statement is to be provided to the diver's employer
certifying the diver's physical qualification or lack of qualification to
engage in diving activities. The statement is to include the name of the diver,
date and location of the examination, name of examining physician, address of
location at which the medical record is stored, and the qualification or
disqualification of the diver.
(2) Diver equipment.
Divers shall only use equipment with which they have been
thoroughly trained.
(E) Equipment.
(1) Responsibility.
The employer shall be responsible for furnishing all safety
equipment. Where divers provide their own protective equipment, such equipment
shall give equal or greater protection than that furnished by the
employer.
(2) Operating
conditions.
All equipment used in diving operations shall be in proper
operating condition and thoroughly tested, under the supervision of the diving
supervisor, prior to use.
(3) Gas supply.
There shall be both a primary and a secondary source of
compressed air for each dive.
(4) Protection of hoses.
All hoses leading to and from the diver's life support which
are exposed to potential damage as a result of falling objects, personnel,
traffic, etc., shall be protected.
(5) Decompression chambers.
(a) For any dives in excess of one hundred
feet of water requiring stage decompression a decompression chamber and a
qualified attendant shall be available at the job site.
(b) The decompression chamber shall be
located to provide easy access and allow for recompression to the required
depth within a maximum of five minutes unless the decompression schedule in use
requires a shorter surface interval.
(c) A single lock chamber shall not be
used.
(F)
Procedures during dive.
(1) Water entry and
exit.
(a) A means capable of supporting the
diver shall be provided for entering and exiting the water.
(b) The means provided for exiting the water
shall extend below the water surface.
(c) A means shall be provided to assist an
injured diver from the water or into a bell.
(2) In the absence of a physician, an
employee who has a valid certificate in first aid training, including training
in oxygen resuscitation equipment, shall be available at the job site at all
times.
(3) The diver's hose shall
be attached to a safety harness and not the weight belt except on deep-sea
gear.
(4) The diver shall carry a
sharp knife as a standard piece of diving equipment.
(G) Surface-supplied diving operations.
(1) Topside jobsite.
(a) Warning signals, such as an international
"A" flag, shall be displayed during diving operations.
(b) All diving compressors must be situated
so that exhaust fumes or other harmful contaminants do not enter the compressor
intake.
(c) An accurate method of
determining the depth of each dive must be provided.
(d) Divers shall not be required to dive if
work is being performed by other personnel overhead where such overhead work
creates a hazard to the diver.
(e)
A diving safety manual that cover all diving
operations, emergency care, recompression and a set of appropriate
decompression tables shall be available at the diving site.
(f) At the job site
there shall be a list of telephone numbers and locations for: nearest
decompression chamber, medical doctor, and transportation.
(g) A propeller guard shall be installed on
all craft used in all liveboating operations.
(h) Voice communications shall be provided
between the dive tender and the boat operator.
(2) Underwater jobsite.
(a) A diver's bottom time, or the "residual
nitrogen time", from repetitive dives must not exceed
exceed those limits
spelled out in the employers diving safety manual that cover all diving
operations, emergency care, recompression. A dive performed within twelve hours
of surfacing from a previous dive is a repetitive dive. The period between
dives is the surface interval. Excess nitrogen requires twelve hours to be
effectively lost from the body, as referenced in appropriate decompression
tables.
(b) A diver shall
wear a bail-out bottle during all liveboating operations (boat
underway).
(c) Prior to all lifting
operations a signal system shall be established and reviewed with all personnel
involved with the dive.
(3) Standby diver.
(a) A standby diver must be ready to reach
the primary diver when the operation involves dives in excess of one hundred
feet, any dive requiring stage decompression, or during any operation where the
primary diver cannot surface by straight ascent. When two divers are in the
water working together, they can be considered as standing by for each other if
one can reach the other within three minutes.
(b) The standby diver is required to tend the
primary diver at the point of entry into wrecks, tunnels, etc.
(H) Self-contained
diving (scuba).
(1) Basic in-water
requirements.
Scuba procedures may only be used in situations in which one of
the following techniques is provided:
(a) A "buddy" system, i.e. two divers in the
water maintaining constant visual or physical contact with each other;
or
(b) Voice communications between
the scuba diver and the surface and if wireless communications are used, a
locating means must be provided; or
(c) A safety line between the diver and a
surface tender which provides a means of communications through the use of pull
signals on the safety line.
(2) Equipment.
(a) Equipment shall be the open circuit,
demand regulator type with a valid interstate commerce commission (ICC) stamp
on the air tank.
(b) Both tank and
weight belt shall be equipped with quick release buckles.
(c) A knife and safety vest are required to
be used.
(I)
Emergency procedures.
Emergency procedures shall be established to provide for
the following circumstances as may
be applicable and shall be reviewed by the diver and the surface support crew
before the dive:
(1) Loss of voice
communications in the water or in the chamber;
(2) Interruption of the surface gas
supply;
(3) Severance of the
diver's hose bundle;
(4)
Entanglement or entrapment;
(5)
Occurrence of oxygen poisoning;
(6)
Occurrence of decompression sickness;
(7) Occurrence of unplanned buoyant ascent.
(J) Underwater cutting
and welding.
(1) Disconnect switch.
A disconnect switch shall be used in the electrical circuit and
shall be located in such a position that the diving tender on the
intercommunication system can operate or oversee its operation at all times
when the diver is below the surface.
The disconnect switch shall be in the open position except when
the diver is actually cutting or welding.
(2) Insulated gloves.
Rubber or other insulated gloves shall be provided and shall be
used by the diver during underwater electric cutting and welding
operations.
(K)
Record keeping - diving operations.
An individual record or log entry for each diving exposure
including the following data is to be maintained:
(1) Location;
(2) Divers, tenders' and supervisor's
names;
(3) Water depth;
(4) Bottom time;
(5) Type of equipment used;
(6) Estimated environmental
conditions;
(7) Decompression
schedule used;
(8) Gas used and
composition;
(9) Type of work
performed;
(10) Unusual conditions;
and
(11) Repetitive dive
designations or time of last exposure.
(12)
Record of
hospitalizations.
(13)
Safe practices manuals.
(L) Hose and fittings.
(1) Testing and replacement.
(a) Hose and fittings shall be tested at
least once a year to one and one-half times their maximum working pressure. If
exposed to rough usage or unusual conditions it shall be inspected more
frequently.
(b) Hose showing
abrasion of outer cover which exposes the reinforcement, shall be
replaced.
(c) Couplings that are
distorted, have damaged threads, or show an excessive amount of corrosion shall
be replaced.
(d) Hose which has
sustained other damage must be pressure tested to one and one-half times the
maximum working pressure plus one hundred pounds per square inch, prior to
use.
(e) Records shall be kept of
all pressure tests and the test dates; and they shall be signed by the
individual responsible for each of them.
(2) Marking.
Each hose section shall be given a serial number for record
keeping purposes.
(3)
Fittings.
Connections shall be of a type that cannot be accidentally
disengaged from the gas supply.
(4) Oxygen piping.
Hard piping systems, fittings and tubings carrying pure, high
pressure (up to two thousand five hundred pounds per square inch) oxygen shall
be of corrosion resistant metals, such as copper, brass, "300" series stainless
steel or monel.
Click to
view Appendix
