Replacement Hydro Sticker

[Matthew love]

Picked up a new Faber HP STEEL 80 for the lady and the retailer slapped a big ol advertisement sticker on the tank which is also it's hydro sticker.

Curious as to there are any online sales for replacement sticker(not sure how that would work?).

Thanks guys and gals!

 

[boulderjohn]

I assume you mean a visual inspection sticker.

Unfortunately, it is possible to get them on your own from different people, and you can even print your own using the right kind of adhesive paper. Yes, there are people who get a hold of such stickers and slap them on their tanks whenever they are due for a new inspection.

Of course, the problem is that the sticker is supposed to identify when an actual inspection took place, so putting a sticker on a tank without actually doing an inspection by a certified tank inspector is something of a fraud. If you do that sort of thing and the tank blows up and someone gets killed because a defect was not spotted when the inspection should have been done, you might regret it.

I get my stickers from the agency that certified me, and I have to use my inspector number to order them.

 

[guruboy]

IANAL

The scuba VIP has no legal requirement so I don't see why that would matter if a tank blows up. Seems like a bigger liability for the hydro facility.
(let's ignore 6351 alloy tanks for now)

Of course, victims will sue anyone and everyone they can, so...

 

[boulderjohn]

You don't think there would be a problem if a tank blew up and killed an employee when filling a tank with a faked Visual inspection Sticker? That employee would not have attempted to fill the tank without that sticker--you don't think a lawyer could convince a jury that your fraud was complicit in the employees's death?

 

[redacted]

You don't think there would be a problem if a tank blew up and killed an employee when filling a tank with a faked Visual inspection Sticker? That employee would not have attempted to fill the tank without that sticker--you don't think a lawyer could convince a jury that your fraud was complicit in the employees's death?

.

Do you think it would be any different if it were a tank with your VIS sticker?

 

[guruboy]

You don't think there would be a problem if a tank blew up and killed an employee when filling a tank with a faked Visual inspection Sticker? That employee would not have attempted to fill the tank without that sticker--you don't think a lawyer could convince a jury that your fraud was complicit in the employees's death?

There is no such thing as a "legal" sticker. Some agencies agreed to certain criteria for performing a scuba tank inspection. This is self regulated and is not a legal requirement. As long as the sticker doesn't claim a PSI or TDI cert number, it's not fraud.

 

[boulderjohn]

.

Do you think it would be any different if it were a tank with your VIS sticker?

Absolutely.

If a tank exploded after I had done a visual inspection, and I said that in my analysis, the tank was within standards at that time, the burden would be on the plaintiff to prove that either (1) I did not actually do the inspection, or (2) the defect was missed by me, or (3) the defect I missed was obvious enough that a properly trained inspector could not have missed it. Does any of that sound possible?

If a tank exploded after there was no inspection and someone had slapped a fraudulent sticker on it, a lawyer would have to stifle the yawns while making the case.

 

[boulderjohn]

There is no such thing as a "legal" sticker. Some agencies agreed to certain criteria for performing a scuba tank inspection. This is self regulated and is not a legal requirement. As long as the sticker doesn't claim a PSI or TDI cert number, it's not fraud.

There is no legal requirement to have a visual inspection. Correct.

But dive shops will not fill a tank without one. If you put one on a tank that says it was inspected when it in fact was not inspected, are you saying that a jury will not determine that you have perpetrated a fraud that resulted in someone's death?

 

[guruboy]

There is no legal requirement to have a visual inspection. Correct.

But dive shops will not fill a tank without one. If you put one on a tank that says it was inspected when it in fact was not inspected, are you saying that a jury will not determine that you have perpetrated a fraud that resulted in someone's death?

Let's say I am Bob. As Bob, my "inspection criteria" is for to look at a tank and make sure the tank markings are correct. I just did my VIP. I put a sticker saying "VIP by Bob" on it. I met all legal requirements. Where is the fraud?

 

[boulderjohn]

Let's say I am Bob. As Bob, my "inspection criteria" is for to look at a tank and make sure the tank markings are correct. I just did my VIP. I put a sticker saying "VIP by Bob" on it. I met all legal requirements. Where is the fraud?

There are no legal requirements for a visual inspection, but there are industry standards. You can't just make up your own standards. In a lawsuit, the question will be whether your inspection followed industry standards.

The same thing happens every time scuba instruction results in a fatality. Scuba certification is not governed by law. Agency standards are not governed by law. If you as the instructor did not follow industry standards or agency standards, you will indeed be found liable, as has been shown many times. The recent case in Utah in which an instructor did not follow agency or industry standards when a Boy Scout died shows this perfectly.