Thank you to all those who posted comments and appreciated the dialog and thought provoking comments from my recent thread "Commercial or PSD?"
We all have opinions and I thank each of you who shared their opinion with me and the other forum members. I think many learned and I too benefited from the dialog. That's why I figured I might try one more round of debate.
This evening I was online reading a report at:
http://www.emich.edu/cerns/downloads/papers/PoliceStaff/Unsorted/DEVELOPMENT%20OF%20AN%20ICE,%20SWIFTWATER-WATER%20AND%20rescue%20Dive%20Team%20for%20the%20City%20of%20Ann%20Arbor.pdf
This is a report written as justification for a water rescue team and was used to fulfill partial requirements of Eastern Michigan University
School of Fire Staff and Command.
It is an interesting read and if you have time, check out the entire 47 page report. If time is short, read the snippet below and consider the subject recently debated on this forum (Commercial or PSD?).
I post the story first and ask the tough question last...
At 08:45, the AAFD dispatch center was advised by the Ann Arbor Police Department (AAPD) dispatch center that the Barton Dam located on the Huron River was leaking. The Barton Dam is the oldest dam is the area, built in 1929, it controls the largest man-made lake in southeast Michigan. A flood warning was sent out by the National Weather Service (NWS) to all communities below the Barton Dam on the Huron River. If the dam were to fail there are nine dams down river that could possibly be washed out. All on duty AAFD personnel were advised of the situation and the City of Ann Arbor’s Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) for possible flooding was put into effect.
Hmmm...
Again I start with the disclaimer, I am NOT second guessing decisions and in the same position, I may have likely done the exact same thing.
Using the advantage of hindsight and moving the hands of time forward, the question I pose to forum readers, can a PSD act as a stand by diver (safety diver) on commercial diving operation? (please answer in the poll above)
Now, before anyone jumps up and down too much, I will remind them that OSHA allows...
Another words, on a commercial dive operation, rules CAN be violated if the reason is "justified" and the are director is notified. (Kudos to Joe LaRocha and other smart folks back in the 1970s for that forward thinking!)
We all have opinions and I thank each of you who shared their opinion with me and the other forum members. I think many learned and I too benefited from the dialog. That's why I figured I might try one more round of debate.
This evening I was online reading a report at:
http://www.emich.edu/cerns/downloads/papers/PoliceStaff/Unsorted/DEVELOPMENT%20OF%20AN%20ICE,%20SWIFTWATER-WATER%20AND%20rescue%20Dive%20Team%20for%20the%20City%20of%20Ann%20Arbor.pdf
This is a report written as justification for a water rescue team and was used to fulfill partial requirements of Eastern Michigan University
School of Fire Staff and Command.
It is an interesting read and if you have time, check out the entire 47 page report. If time is short, read the snippet below and consider the subject recently debated on this forum (Commercial or PSD?).
I post the story first and ask the tough question last...
At 08:45, the AAFD dispatch center was advised by the Ann Arbor Police Department (AAPD) dispatch center that the Barton Dam located on the Huron River was leaking. The Barton Dam is the oldest dam is the area, built in 1929, it controls the largest man-made lake in southeast Michigan. A flood warning was sent out by the National Weather Service (NWS) to all communities below the Barton Dam on the Huron River. If the dam were to fail there are nine dams down river that could possibly be washed out. All on duty AAFD personnel were advised of the situation and the City of Ann Arbor’s Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) for possible flooding was put into effect.
At 10:00 the decision was made to call in the ice, swiftwater and water rescue team leader and twelve addition personnel. These personnel would staff the ice, swiftwater and water rescue equipment at locations on both sides of the river below the dam.
At 11:45 the ice, swiftwater and water rescue team leader was called to AAFD headquarters for a briefing from the City’s Emergency Manager (EM), Cathy Rich:
“At 08:25, a water alarm had sounded in the control house of the Barton Dam.
When the on-duty person went to investigate the alarm she found water pouring into a manway that leads under the dam. This manway is used for inspection purposes and travels from one side of the dam to the other. The leak was coming from a golf ball size hole in the dam about sixteen feet below the surface of the water. The concrete is six foot thick at this point of the wall. A commercial diving firm had been notified and was enroute to the dam so an inspection dive could be made on the Barton Lake side of the dam. The company had requested the AAFD ice, swiftwater and water rescue team stand-by during their dive.”
When the on-duty person went to investigate the alarm she found water pouring into a manway that leads under the dam. This manway is used for inspection purposes and travels from one side of the dam to the other. The leak was coming from a golf ball size hole in the dam about sixteen feet below the surface of the water. The concrete is six foot thick at this point of the wall. A commercial diving firm had been notified and was enroute to the dam so an inspection dive could be made on the Barton Lake side of the dam. The company had requested the AAFD ice, swiftwater and water rescue team stand-by during their dive.”
At this time the AAFD does not have a certified rescue dive team in operation, however, the team leader is fully certified and was prepared to assist the company if this was approved by the City’s EM.
At 13:20, the commercial diver was ready to enter the water to see how bad the problem was and if any temporary repair measures would work. Ice, swiftwater and water rescue team members were in position both above and below the dam. The team leader was in a ready position at the entry point where the commercial diver had begun his dive. The ready position means that the back-up diver is completely dressed and ready to go in case of trouble.
The commercial diver found a six-foot hole on the Barton Lake side, but felt that a temporary patch could be made using sandbags and cinders. Twenty-three sandbags were pushed into the hole, and then ten more bags of cinders were poured in around the sandbags hoping to slow the leak down so the patch could be placed inside the manway. This operation took one hour and twenty-five minutes. The reason why the diver had to work this slowly was that the water flowing into the hole was creating a total water force of 751 pounds per square inch (PSI). One wrong move and the diver would have been pulled into the hole and held there by the water force. No one has survived being pulled into this type of pressure. The force of the water crushes the body and the lungs cannot inflate to get oxygen to the brain.
Once the repair was made on the Barton Lake side the diver had to work down in the manway in full dive gear to attempt to complete the temporary patch. This was equally as dangerous. If the sandbags gave way the water would be coming into the manway at a rate of over three thousand gallons per minute (GPM). Because the diver had to work from below the hole in the wall, the pressure would be more than the diver could work against and he would be lost in the area under the dam. This procedure took about one hour. A wood and cloth plug was constructed and then lowered into the manway. A hydraulic jack was used to put reverse pressure against the remaining leaking water. A shoring system was then constructed from six inch by six-inch wood shoring material built to hold the patch in place until permanent repairs could be completed. All temporary repairs were completed and the diver was out of the water by 16:00. It was also decided that the situation was under control and all extra AAFD personnel were released from duty. While no AAFD ice, swiftwater and water rescue team members entered the water they were on stand-by for the completion of the temporary repair
operation.Hmmm...
Again I start with the disclaimer, I am NOT second guessing decisions and in the same position, I may have likely done the exact same thing.
Using the advantage of hindsight and moving the hands of time forward, the question I pose to forum readers, can a PSD act as a stand by diver (safety diver) on commercial diving operation? (please answer in the poll above)
Now, before anyone jumps up and down too much, I will remind them that OSHA allows...
1910.401(b)
Application in emergencies. An employer may deviate from the requirements of this standard to the extent necessary to prevent or minimize a situation which is likely to cause death, serious physical harm, or major environmental damage, provided that the employer:
1910.401(b)(1)
Notifies the Area Director, Occupational Safety and Health Administration within 48 hours of the onset of the emergency situation indicating the nature of the emergency and extent of the deviation from the prescribed regulations; and
1910.401(b)(2)
Upon request from the Area Director, submits such information in writing.
Another words, on a commercial dive operation, rules CAN be violated if the reason is "justified" and the are director is notified. (Kudos to Joe LaRocha and other smart folks back in the 1970s for that forward thinking!)