OP
pufferfish
Contributor
Seahunter don't start putting words in people's mouths. No one here has said a particular shop is pumping bad air but we have said some shops including PADI 5 star facilities have not tested their air since July 2000. The potential for bad air from a compressor which has not had the air tested for three years is very high as likely the same operator who doesn't give a **** about testing the air he lets his employees use and sells to the public is also cutting corners on filter and oil changes too.
Listen if you want proof about the lack of testing just put on some dark sun glasses, a trench coat, a wig, and start checking all the PADI shops between Brampton and Whitby. I can tell you if you exclude testing by the OUC as they are nothing but an unaccredited lab in the woods you will find over 95% of the shops have not tested in over a year. If you want more proof go to all the shops not just the PADI ones and you will be equally as dismayed at the lack of testing. Sometimes it is necessary to come down off your mountain and cross the moat in order to see what is going on around oneself instead of fabricating the reality one would like to see. Your expectation-reality gap with regards to the status of air in this province is almost wide as that between Mel Lastmen and his lack of knowledge about SARS and the WHO.:boom:
If you want more facts I can tell you NO shop with employees between Brockville and Brampton as of the May long weekend and this Seahunter INCLUDES your shop too has met the very basic MOL requirements of biannual testing to CSA Z180.1. In Kingston one shop has not tested for a few years and the other which claims to be a 5 star PADI facility and offers trimix uses the OUC where one doesn't know whether the reported CO level of 2 ppm is that or 20 ppm as the OUC has no external accrediting agency checking on their accuracy and precision of testing. If I was a technical diver in Ontario I would be very hesitant to take any blended mix where the air was being checked by OUC. Just remember that any contamination found at surface is multiplied by the absolute pressure at depth. In other words a CO level of 10 ppm on surface at 200 feet would have the same negative health effect as a CO level 70 ppm. This goes for all the other potential contaminants as well. Shops in the States blending air with oxygen or helium insist on OCA air ( oxygen compatible air to ANDI or IANTD standards). Instead here in the Brockville-GTA corridor we have shops blending air using OUC tested air which is then taken to over 200 feet. In Brockville it is the same dismal story as in Kingston. One is lucky to get a recent OUC cert and the one shop blending gas is relying on OUC testing as well.
My message here is that the state of air testing in this province is dismal. I have been in eight shops between Kingston and Brampton and seven had not tested their air in over a year. There is no point in having a negative list as we would have to put over 95% of the fill stations on the list if we were ask for the very minimum MOL requirement of two tests to CSA Z180.1 be met. It is far better to post those few shops who have made the effort to offer certified air to their customers. I contend once there is one shop in town doing testing to CSA Z180 the rest will be forced to follow suit or else lose business. Please patronize and offer a pat on the back to those shops who have made an effort to offer their customers CSA Z180 air as the MOL requires.
That is what our certified air list encourages.
Cat and SH I agree with you in that if one knows of shops not meeting the standard they should be reported. Yes the worst offenders should be chased down first like those who have not tested since July 2000. Then those who are using OUC and then those who are only testing to CGA Gr E level.
The problem is we are not the air police. We all are the air police. Every individual diver in this province should be insisting his or her fill station test to CSA Z180.1 by a certified Canadian lab. One of the goals of this thread was to provide the necessary info to the divers of Ontario so as to confront their shops about these issues. Let me tell you anyone who has read this thread from start to finish knows more about air quality and compressors than most scuba instructors and shop owners. You are now armed so go out and do some of the field work yourselves.
This thread has highlighted the problems in this province with the lack of air testing to a recognized level (CSA Z180.1-00) and provided you with the ammunition to confront or educate the delinquent shops. About 95% of the shops are not testing at all so there is a lot of work to be done by all divers in applying the necessary pressure to their fill stations. Remember if you the customer doesn't insist on proper air certification it may be some time before the MOL, PADI, or NAUI get around to doing so.
I can assure the readers of this thread though that the worst case offenders (no testing for over a year) are being brought to task behind the scenes. Just remember that this takes time to write letters, call various people to get the facts (like Ruby Ochoa at Trace Analytics), and follow up on these findings. A lot of this is done on people's spare time after their day jobs. Please be patient and change will happen but it will happen sooner when the divers in their local areas like Kingston and Brockville also apply pressure on their fill stations to meet the MOL law or those requirements of their agency affiliations. Just remember complacency will eventually kill and somewhere sometime with no air testing bad air will be pumped. Just hope you are not on the receiving end. It is out there as Doppler found out last year with his OMS tanks.
So just as the letter from Trace Analytics didn't magically appear here remember things are happening slowly behind the scenes and you should see that list of shops meeting MOL requirements start to grow over the summer.
