And why OSHA Commercial Diving Regulations have authority
In response to remarks in another thread regarding a Pompano dive charter, I would like to demonstrate that recreational dive charters operating in the Pompano area are in fact operating within the jurisdiction of OSHA.
From EXCLUSIONS AND EXEMPTIONS FROM OSHA'S COMMERCIAL DIVING STANDARD ( http://www.si.edu/dive/pdfs/Butler.pdf )
Stephen Sea Butler
U.S. Department of Labor
OSHA Division of Maritime Compliance Assistance
( http://www.si.edu/dive/pdfs/Butler.pdf )
ISSUANCE OF ORIGINAL COMMERCIAL DIVING STANDARD
AND SCOPE OF OSHA'S STATUTORY JURISDICTION
On July 22, 1977 [42 F.R. 37650] the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health
Administration issued final public notice of the adoption of a permanent diving standard which became
effective on October 20, 1977. OSHA's original diving standard, 29 CFR Part 1910 - Subpart T
"Commercial Diving Operations," established mandatory occupational safety and health requirements for
commercial diving operations. The standard applies wherever OSHA has statutory jurisdiction.
Consequently, diving in any natural or artificial inland body of water, as well as diving along the coasts
(State territorial waters) of the United States and possessions listed in Section 4(a) of the OSH Act [29
U.S. 655] is covered. For coastal States and territories, the State territorial waters extend 3 nautical miles
seaward from the coast line, except for the Gulf Coast of Florida and Texas where the territorial waters
extend for 3 marine leagues (approximately 9 nautical miles). For States bordering the Great Lakes and
St. Lawrence River, all waters in the Great Lakes and associated rivers up to the international boundary
line with Canada are State territorial waters
Next. I would like to identify that instruction is considered to be commercial diving by OSHA.
OSHA recognized that there was a big difference between hairy hard hat chopping up steel underwater commercial diving and teaching mask clearing in a pool commercial diving, and so issued an exclusion for "instructional diving which uses open-circuit compressed air scuba and is conducted within the no-decompression limits." Scuba instruction was no longer commercial diving.
ORIGINAL EXCLUSIONS FROM OSHA'S COMMERCIAL DIVING STANDARD
1. “Instructional diving utilizing only open-circuit compressed air scuba within the nodecompression
limits.”
OSHA concluded that a valid distinction existed between scuba diving instructors and commercial
divers which warranted an exclusion. The scuba diving instructor, who is an employee, is studentoriented,
not task-oriented. The dive site is not determined by the location of a particular job as it is in
commercial applications, where operations must of necessity be conducted under environmental
conditions which are often adverse. The scuba diving instructor, by contrast, selects a location which is
Lang and Baldwin (Eds.): Methods and Techniques of Underwater Research
40
usually clear, shallow and warm. Indeed, a swimming pool is the dive site for most scuba diving
instruction. Such dives are discontinued if the slightest difficulty occurs. Scuba diving instructors do not
utilize construction tools, handle explosives, or use welding or burning tools. As a result of these factors,
scuba diving instructors are rarely exposed to adverse sea states, temperature extremes, great depths, poor
visibility, or heavy work loads, some or all of which are common to the majority of commercial diving
operations. However, OSHA took into consideration that some diving techniques and conditions pose
greater potential hazards than others, regardless of the purpose of the dive. Thus, this exclusion for scuba
diving instruction was limited to a restricted diving range, a particular diving mode, and specific
equipment. The exclusion from the standard applies only to instructional diving which uses open-circuit
compressed air scuba and is conducted within the no-decompression limits. The standard defines nodecompression
limits as the depth-time limits of the "no-decompression limits and repetitive dive group
designation table for no-decompression air dives" of the U.S. Navy Diving Manual, or equivalent limits
which the employer can demonstrate to be equally effective. No distinction per se is made between
instructors of prospective recreational divers and instructors of prospective commercial divers. However,
by its very nature, the training for commercial divers involves diving that is surface-supplied, uses mixed
gas as a breathing gas, requires decompression, often involves adverse environmental conditions, or
involves the use of underwater tools and equipment; each of these factors potentially increases the hazard
of the operation. It is emphasized that when instruction exceeds the specified limits, the OSHA diving
standard applies. It is noted that individuals engaged in recreational diving for their own personal
enjoyment, and not otherwise related to their respective employments, are not within the jurisdiction of
the OSH Act, and therefore are outside the scope of OSHA's diving standard. On the other hand, scuba
diving for a commercial rather than instructional purpose is covered by the OSHA diving standard,
regardless of equipment or depth-time range.
The use of mixed gas even nitrox however, automatically kicked the instructor back in, and they were no longer excluded from the commercial diving standards and therefore were engaging in commercial diving operations. Most inconvenient to the law abiding dive operator, was that in this situation a recompression chamber was required, by the OSHA commercial diving the standards, to be on site. This was touched upon in the other thread.
If it remains unclear to the reader that the average dive charter is legally engaging in commercial diving operations by OSHA's commercial diving standards, read on! Because in 1999, Dixie Divers applied for and received a variance on the recompression chamber requirements- NOT an exclusion from the Commercial Diving Standards so that their staff could dive nitrox legally. This variance was later codified in a 2003 revision of the Commercial Diving Standard, proof positive that instruction or guiding for pay while breathing anything other than air constitutes Commercial Diving and falls under the authority of OSHA.
Below is an excerpt from the final rule, which can be viewed in its entirety here: (http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FEDERAL_REGISTER&p_id=18073 )
On January 10, 2003, OSHA proposed to amend its Commercial Diving Operations ("CDO") standards to incorporate the terms and conditions of the Dixie Divers variance as an appendix to the CDO standards (68 FR 1399). The Agency now is issuing the final rule to amend the CDO standards based on this proposal. OSHA believes that this amendment enables recreational diving instructors and diving guides to extend their diving operations while minimizing their risk of DCS and AGE. The Agency concludes that the recreational diving instructors and diving guides covered by this amendment will receive a level of safety and health protection that is equivalent to recreational diving instructors and diving guides who have a decompression chamber located at the dive site during mixed-gas diving operations regulated under the CDO standards. Therefore, a decompression chamber near the dive site is unnecessary for the divers covered by this final rule.
A rule specifically addressing dive instructors and guides in OSHA's Commercial Diving Operation Standards born of another dive boat operating out of the very same inlet as the boat in the other thread? What more could you ask for? Well, I personally have engaged in commercial diving operations on the specific boat mentioned in the other thread by teaching on nitrox, and I've seen other guys do it too, so I'll throw that little cherry on top.
The moral of the story is before all you hard hat guys get all froggy and indignant that some divemaster dares to encroach on your commercial diving mystique, remember that we have rules too, and we're supposed to know them, and just because we're not getting medieval
on some valve 300 feet underwater doesn't mean that our jobs are not full of danger. While you may have to contend with underwater explosions and sperm whales, we have to deal with globs of other people's snot floating into our hair during mask removal skills. We each have our own crosses to bear.
In response to remarks in another thread regarding a Pompano dive charter, I would like to demonstrate that recreational dive charters operating in the Pompano area are in fact operating within the jurisdiction of OSHA.
From EXCLUSIONS AND EXEMPTIONS FROM OSHA'S COMMERCIAL DIVING STANDARD ( http://www.si.edu/dive/pdfs/Butler.pdf )
Stephen Sea Butler
U.S. Department of Labor
OSHA Division of Maritime Compliance Assistance
( http://www.si.edu/dive/pdfs/Butler.pdf )
ISSUANCE OF ORIGINAL COMMERCIAL DIVING STANDARD
AND SCOPE OF OSHA'S STATUTORY JURISDICTION
On July 22, 1977 [42 F.R. 37650] the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health
Administration issued final public notice of the adoption of a permanent diving standard which became
effective on October 20, 1977. OSHA's original diving standard, 29 CFR Part 1910 - Subpart T
"Commercial Diving Operations," established mandatory occupational safety and health requirements for
commercial diving operations. The standard applies wherever OSHA has statutory jurisdiction.
Consequently, diving in any natural or artificial inland body of water, as well as diving along the coasts
(State territorial waters) of the United States and possessions listed in Section 4(a) of the OSH Act [29
U.S. 655] is covered. For coastal States and territories, the State territorial waters extend 3 nautical miles
seaward from the coast line, except for the Gulf Coast of Florida and Texas where the territorial waters
extend for 3 marine leagues (approximately 9 nautical miles). For States bordering the Great Lakes and
St. Lawrence River, all waters in the Great Lakes and associated rivers up to the international boundary
line with Canada are State territorial waters
Next. I would like to identify that instruction is considered to be commercial diving by OSHA.
OSHA recognized that there was a big difference between hairy hard hat chopping up steel underwater commercial diving and teaching mask clearing in a pool commercial diving, and so issued an exclusion for "instructional diving which uses open-circuit compressed air scuba and is conducted within the no-decompression limits." Scuba instruction was no longer commercial diving.
ORIGINAL EXCLUSIONS FROM OSHA'S COMMERCIAL DIVING STANDARD
1. “Instructional diving utilizing only open-circuit compressed air scuba within the nodecompression
limits.”
OSHA concluded that a valid distinction existed between scuba diving instructors and commercial
divers which warranted an exclusion. The scuba diving instructor, who is an employee, is studentoriented,
not task-oriented. The dive site is not determined by the location of a particular job as it is in
commercial applications, where operations must of necessity be conducted under environmental
conditions which are often adverse. The scuba diving instructor, by contrast, selects a location which is
Lang and Baldwin (Eds.): Methods and Techniques of Underwater Research
40
usually clear, shallow and warm. Indeed, a swimming pool is the dive site for most scuba diving
instruction. Such dives are discontinued if the slightest difficulty occurs. Scuba diving instructors do not
utilize construction tools, handle explosives, or use welding or burning tools. As a result of these factors,
scuba diving instructors are rarely exposed to adverse sea states, temperature extremes, great depths, poor
visibility, or heavy work loads, some or all of which are common to the majority of commercial diving
operations. However, OSHA took into consideration that some diving techniques and conditions pose
greater potential hazards than others, regardless of the purpose of the dive. Thus, this exclusion for scuba
diving instruction was limited to a restricted diving range, a particular diving mode, and specific
equipment. The exclusion from the standard applies only to instructional diving which uses open-circuit
compressed air scuba and is conducted within the no-decompression limits. The standard defines nodecompression
limits as the depth-time limits of the "no-decompression limits and repetitive dive group
designation table for no-decompression air dives" of the U.S. Navy Diving Manual, or equivalent limits
which the employer can demonstrate to be equally effective. No distinction per se is made between
instructors of prospective recreational divers and instructors of prospective commercial divers. However,
by its very nature, the training for commercial divers involves diving that is surface-supplied, uses mixed
gas as a breathing gas, requires decompression, often involves adverse environmental conditions, or
involves the use of underwater tools and equipment; each of these factors potentially increases the hazard
of the operation. It is emphasized that when instruction exceeds the specified limits, the OSHA diving
standard applies. It is noted that individuals engaged in recreational diving for their own personal
enjoyment, and not otherwise related to their respective employments, are not within the jurisdiction of
the OSH Act, and therefore are outside the scope of OSHA's diving standard. On the other hand, scuba
diving for a commercial rather than instructional purpose is covered by the OSHA diving standard,
regardless of equipment or depth-time range.
The use of mixed gas even nitrox however, automatically kicked the instructor back in, and they were no longer excluded from the commercial diving standards and therefore were engaging in commercial diving operations. Most inconvenient to the law abiding dive operator, was that in this situation a recompression chamber was required, by the OSHA commercial diving the standards, to be on site. This was touched upon in the other thread.
If it remains unclear to the reader that the average dive charter is legally engaging in commercial diving operations by OSHA's commercial diving standards, read on! Because in 1999, Dixie Divers applied for and received a variance on the recompression chamber requirements- NOT an exclusion from the Commercial Diving Standards so that their staff could dive nitrox legally. This variance was later codified in a 2003 revision of the Commercial Diving Standard, proof positive that instruction or guiding for pay while breathing anything other than air constitutes Commercial Diving and falls under the authority of OSHA.
Below is an excerpt from the final rule, which can be viewed in its entirety here: (http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FEDERAL_REGISTER&p_id=18073 )
On January 10, 2003, OSHA proposed to amend its Commercial Diving Operations ("CDO") standards to incorporate the terms and conditions of the Dixie Divers variance as an appendix to the CDO standards (68 FR 1399). The Agency now is issuing the final rule to amend the CDO standards based on this proposal. OSHA believes that this amendment enables recreational diving instructors and diving guides to extend their diving operations while minimizing their risk of DCS and AGE. The Agency concludes that the recreational diving instructors and diving guides covered by this amendment will receive a level of safety and health protection that is equivalent to recreational diving instructors and diving guides who have a decompression chamber located at the dive site during mixed-gas diving operations regulated under the CDO standards. Therefore, a decompression chamber near the dive site is unnecessary for the divers covered by this final rule.
A rule specifically addressing dive instructors and guides in OSHA's Commercial Diving Operation Standards born of another dive boat operating out of the very same inlet as the boat in the other thread? What more could you ask for? Well, I personally have engaged in commercial diving operations on the specific boat mentioned in the other thread by teaching on nitrox, and I've seen other guys do it too, so I'll throw that little cherry on top.
The moral of the story is before all you hard hat guys get all froggy and indignant that some divemaster dares to encroach on your commercial diving mystique, remember that we have rules too, and we're supposed to know them, and just because we're not getting medieval
on some valve 300 feet underwater doesn't mean that our jobs are not full of danger. While you may have to contend with underwater explosions and sperm whales, we have to deal with globs of other people's snot floating into our hair during mask removal skills. We each have our own crosses to bear.
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