VIP Inspectors: Identifiable vs Identified

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If you want to perform cylinder inspections, but don't want anyone to find out who did the inspections, then you're in the wrong business. If this is what you're worried about, then hang up your shingle now.

Personal accountability is the whole reason one gets trained and certified.

Please explain what you mean by "hang up your shingle now".
 
I have been told that if the lds is affiliated in any way with tdi/sdi and wont respect that vip tag they will have a problem with sdi/tdi , and rightly so ............I had 1 shop deny a sdi vip sticker they got a phone call from HQ .....they except them now
 
Albeit I am not quite sure on the wording, I do like my sticker and it has my Inspector number on it. Anybody who feels the need to know can take it from there to get more info. As that sticker only goes on my tanks, if they pass, any filling shop has a real easy way to find out who the inspector is. I tell them upfront. So far only three shops filled my tanks since I inspected them, so my sampling size is tiny.

And yes, all the punch options "(Decade") on there might be a bit silly, but in my case that pile of stickers will outlast me... and I just can't help it with being frugal...

And I did quite like @abnfrog 's class on the matter!
And in case anyone thinks my stickers are really silly, I didn't consult anyone. Just felt like doing them that way one day...
VIP-sticker_Schwob_censored.jpg
 
I like the sticker.

But, for me, I just want a fill without issues. I don't like showing up with an 'all about me' tank that some prig is going challenge. It met SDI standards, so did I, fill the damn thing.

If it turns out that I cheated and hurt someone just to get a dive then that is on me and I take that responsibility quite seriously. Different strokes for different folks...
 
@Jim Lapenta,

My position is that I walked the walk, and can now both buy and put an SDI sticker onto my tank. I can punch O2 cleaned too. Nothing on that sticker that identifies me directly, thus my initial concern. There are endless ways to screw with the inspection process, pointless to drag all that out.

So if I brought my tanks to your shop (that you mention) they will deny me?
Its not a shop. It's a location where a shop contracts with it to have a fill station. According to the email I got from them last year, the sticker needed to have a shop name and address. Their place, their rules.
 
I'm glad that I have 8 sets of 3L tanks for my rebreathers, lots of stages and my own mixed gas fillstation. I am not in a position that I'll ever have to depend on anyone else to either fill or screw up the fill in my tanks.

Michael
 
Huh?
Has anyone ever been contacted by law enforcement, coroner etc about a diving death via their inspection sticker on the tank?
Has DOJ ever prosecuted anyone over a non-DOT required visual by someone other than an official DOT requalifier anyway?

99.9% or more your VIP, inadequacy or lackthereof is going to be associated with filling. Either the cylinder ruptures or the tank/valve catches fire. They will find the bits and pieces of the cylinder and your sticker in the wreckage. No matter how poor your VIP or cleaning might have been there is no possible crime here other than maybe at its most extreme fraud - claiming you inspected to CGA standards or cleaned it when you didn't. Even if you keep no records, that is not a crime either.

The only people coming after you are the families of the deceased or injured - and/or their insurance companies. You are better off having the largest blanket liability cover available because you will spend almost that much of your own money to hold up your PSI forms and CGA standards book in court to try and defend yourself from the deceased family's lawyer. Let your insurance settle or fight if they choose. Otherwise your defense is all on you and it wont be cheap.

Hi rjack321,

I agree with your post.

Please add to your post a paragraph about "chain of custody.' Once the owner of the tank takes custody of the tank that @lowviz has inspected, the "chain of custody" is broken. No one knows if the tank received repeated super cave fills, or was dropped, or as I do, has had the valve removed for transport either on a jetliner or through a commercial postal service. Nobody can prove the "chain of custody" from the point that the customer takes possession of the tank from @lowviz after he inspected it.

A visual inspection is like any other inspection, it is a snapshot picture taken at that moment in time (the moment the inspection is complete). In reality, it is useless beyond that point.

The industry assumption is that within a year, damage caused by abuse, or latent defects, will not propagate to the point that a catastrophic failure will occur (within that year).

As you stated, @lowviz will probably still get sued in civil court if a tank that he inspected grenades on someone. The odds of that happening are extremely low (both, catastrophic failure and getting sued).

cheers,
markm
 
Please add to your post a paragraph about "chain of custody.' Once the owner of the tank takes custody of the tank that @lowviz has inspected, the "chain of custody" is broken. No one knows if the tank received repeated super cave fills, or was dropped, or as I do, has had the valve removed for transport either on a jetliner or through a commercial postal service. Nobody can prove the "chain of custody" from the point that the customer takes possession of the tank from @lowviz after he inspected it.
@markmud: Excellent point about 'chain of custody'. However, I believe that I do not break its chain of custody unless I pass it to someone else without documenting that action.

Chain of custody tells you nothing about what terrible things I might have done to a tank under my watch. However, it likely does tell you something about liability as to where the damage/miss-call happened. Send a tank through an airport? Good luck with identifying anyone...

This thread was started as due diligence on my part to tease out these issues, several of which I hadn't considered. Thank you all.
 
There is no chain of custody for cylinders - such a thing does not exist.
If the cylinder is abused at any point after its last hydro and then subsequently has a catastrophic failure, past investigations suggest that DOT is probably going to figure that out with metallurgical analysis. And as far as I can tell looking back on the explosion reports here and on DOT's website, there's no hints or suggestions that any explosion or fire event ever went to court. It's never been a criminal matter, probably because the events are so rare they are legitimately classified as accidents
 
But, for me, I just want a fill without issues. I don't like showing up with an 'all about me' tank that some prig is going challenge. It met SDI standards, so did I, fill the damn thing.

Good luck, scuba shops make up arbitrary rules all the time. As soon as you respond to one issue, they will makeup another.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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