Representatives from the Divers' Association met with United States Congressman Jim McDermott (D. Washington) on July 2, 2012. At that meeting the congressman was briefed on the status of the now fourteen years’ of non-progress regarding the United States Coast Guard commercial diving regulation reform. The issues of minimum dive team personnel, equipment standards, diver certification, licensing of dive supervisors, back up equipment and accountability were all discussed. The issues of reform previously approved by the Commandant were also revisited.
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Require bail out bottles for all commercial diving operations.
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Require a backup air supply system for all commercial dives
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Require a standby diver dressed out and at the ready
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Require increased manning for all commercial dives
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Require site specific rescue plans
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Require Hazard Analysis plans
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Require diving stages at the water entry point
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Require pre dive check lists
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Change the USCG regulations to hold diving contractors accountable
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Change the reference from "The Diving Supervisor shall ensure" to "The Diving Contractor shall ensure" throughout the CFR
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Require that the Master or Designated person in charge to review diving plans.
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Require that the revised CFR define a dive tender including the words "the person tending the diver shall have no other duties while the diver is under the water."
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Require a diver certification program
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Require a diving supervisor certification program
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Require that the revised CFR define a diver
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Require log books
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Require operations manuals be on site and include maintenance records
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Require operations manuals be on site and include compressor air quality reports
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Require that the diving contractor maintain testing records for a period of not less than 3 years
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Require that the Dive Supervisor and the Master or person in Charge execute a declaration of Inspection prior to the beginning of the dive evolution.
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Require that USCG not designate dive safety enforcement to any classification society.
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Require that dive causality investigations be conducted by trained marine safety inspectors
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Require that Coast Guard divers assist in any dive related fatality investigation
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Require that the Coast Guard seek an agreement with the US Navy experimental diving unit to provide assistance in all diving casualty investigations
Following the Divers’ Association presentation, the Congressman agreed to make a request to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland on behalf of the Association to change the status of the commercial diving regulation reform from non-significant to significant and move the long delayed commercial diving regulatory reform from committee to public hearing; a public hearing where the nation’s divers will have the opportunity to review and comment before final approval. The Divers Associations' final comment / question was should the divers of the United States not be entitled to the same protections that are afforded to the divers of Canada, Europe and even Nigeria?
We anticipate receiving the official copies of the congressman’s requests along with the forthcoming responses and will post them here once available.
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