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Canada – Nova Scotia Offshore Area Diving Operations Safety Transitional Regulations (SOR/2015-6)

Regulations are current to 2024-03-06

PART 5Supervisors (continued)

Oxygen Supply Systems and Breathing Mixture Supply Systems

  •  (1) A supervisor must not conduct a diving operation in which

    • (a) an oxygen supply system is used, unless the oxygen supply system meets the requirements set out in section 18;

    • (b) a breathing mixture supply system is used, unless the breathing mixture supply system meets the requirements set out in sections 19 and 20; and

    • (c) an analyzer is used to determine the relative levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide during any dive that is part of the diving operation, unless the analyzer is recalibrated in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions for the analyzer before the dive.

  • (2) When an analyzer is used continuously in a diving operation to determine the relative levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide during any dive that is part of the diving operation, the supervisor must ensure that the analyzer is recalibrated in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions for the analyzer, where practicable, every two hours.

  • (3) A diving supervisor must not, in a diving operation supervised by the supervisor, use or permit to be used an on-line gas blender or diver’s gas recovery system unless, at all times that the blender or recovery system is in use, the requirements of section 20 are complied with.

Breathing Mixture

  •  (1) A supervisor must not begin or continue a diving operation unless

    • (a) the total quantity of appropriate breathing mixture that is available at any time during the diving operation consists of the quantities set out in section 21;

    • (b) the purity of the breathing mixture is of an acceptable standard; and

    • (c) the quantities of breathing mixture referred to in subparagraphs 21(1)(a)(ii) and (iii) are available for immediate use at a flow rate, temperature and pressure that are safe for the user.

  • (2) A supervisor must not permit a diver supervised by the supervisor to make a dive unless

    • (a) the total quantity of appropriate breathing mixture, including the reserve supply,

      • (i) carried by the diver is sufficient to enable the diver to reach a skip, diving bell or diving submersible used in connection with the dive, a reserve supply referred to in subparagraph 21(1)(a)(ii) or the surface, and

      • (ii) available to the diver’s stand-by diver for immediate use is sufficient to enable the stand-by diver to reach the diver and to enable the stand-by diver and the diver

        • (A) to carry out appropriate decompression procedures and return to the surface, or

        • (B) to return to the skip, diving bell or diving submersible used in connection with the dive and to carry out appropriate decompression procedures either in the skip, diving bell or diving submersible, as the case may be, or at the surface; and

    • (b) the supervisor has analyzed the breathing mixture for the accuracy of its oxygen content immediately before the dive.

  • (3) A supervisor must not, in a diving operation supervised by the supervisor, use or permit to be used

    • (a) compressed air as a breathing mixture at water depths greater than 50 m or at pressures that are equivalent to the pressures of water depths greater than 50 m, except in the case of a category III dive; or

    • (b) pure oxygen as a breathing mixture, except for decompression or therapeutic purposes.

  • (4) A supervisor must protect any breathing mixture to be used in a diving operation supervised by the supervisor from any likelihood of contamination.

  • (5) If a diving supervisor becomes aware of any oil or other contaminant in waters in which a diving operation supervised by the supervisor is being conducted, the supervisor must take all necessary steps to avoid any contamination of any diver in the water and of the ambient atmosphere in any compression chamber used in the diving operation.

Diving Operations Logbooks

  •  (1) A supervisor must enter in the diving operations logbook referred to in paragraph 8(5)(m), for each diving operation or portion of a diving operation supervised by the supervisor,

    • (a) the date and the time the diving operation was begun and ended, including any time during which the diving operation was interrupted, or the date and the time the supervisor began the supervision and the time the supervision ended;

    • (b) the name of the diving contractor, if any, who conducted the diving operation;

    • (c) the name of the operator or the operator’s representative responsible for the diving operation;

    • (d) the name or other designation and the location of the craft or installation from which, or other dive site at which, the diving operation was conducted;

    • (e) the identification number of any dive supervised during the diving operation or during the period of supervision referred to in paragraph (a);

    • (f) the name of the supervisor, the names of all other persons involved in the diving operation, including those who operated any diving plant and equipment used in the diving operation, the names of the persons consulted under paragraph 38(1)(a), the names of any other persons consulted in respect of the diving operation and the positions or titles of all the persons named;

    • (g) the procedures followed during the diving operation;

    • (h) the decompression table and the schedule in the decompression table that were used in the diving operation;

    • (i) the time at which any diver involved in the diving operation and any skip, diving bell, diving submersible or ADS used in the diving operation left the surface and returned to the surface;

    • (j) the maximum depth, bottom time, dive time and total dive time for each dive conducted during the period of supervision referred to in paragraph (a);

    • (k) the type of diving plant and equipment and the type of breathing mixture used in the diving operation;

    • (l) the type of discomfort, injury or illness, including decompression sickness, suffered by any person involved in the diving operation;

    • (m) the particulars of any environmental conditions that affected or might have affected the diving operation; and

    • (n) any other factor relevant to the safety or health of any person involved in the diving operation.

  • (2) A supervisor must, after completion of an entry in the diving operations logbook in accordance with subsection (1), immediately sign the entry and request the operator or the operator’s representative responsible for the diving operation to countersign the entry as soon as possible.

  • (3) A person must not make any alteration to an entry in a diving operations logbook referred to in subsection (1) unless the alteration is initialled by the supervisor who made the entry and by the person who countersigned the entry.

  • (4) When there is no space for further entries in a diving operations logbook for a diving operation, or when the diving operation is completed, whichever occurs first, the supervisor who made the last entry in the logbook must deliver the logbook to the diving contractor who conducted the diving operation, but in the event of an accident in connection with the diving operation, the supervisor on duty at the time of the accident must deliver the logbook to the operator responsible for the diving operation as soon as possible after the accident.

Supervisor’s Logbooks

  •  (1) A supervisor must keep a logbook that is permanently bound, has numbered pages and contains the name and signature of the supervisor and a photograph that is a likeness of the supervisor.

  • (2) A supervisor must, as soon as possible after supervision of a dive or after supervision of a portion of a dive, enter in the logbook for each dive or portion of a dive supervised by the supervisor,

    • (a) the date of the dive;

    • (b) the name of the diving contractor, if any, who conducted the dive;

    • (c) the name of the operator or the operator’s representative responsible for the diving operation;

    • (d) the name or other designation and location of the craft or installation from which, or other dive site at which, the dive was conducted;

    • (e) the dive identification number referred to in paragraph 49(1)(e);

    • (f) the name of each diver or pilot supervised;

    • (g) the maximum depth, bottom time and dive time of the dive;

    • (h) the decompression table and the schedule in the decompression table that were used in the dive;

    • (i) details of any medical care or advice given and the type of therapeutic treatment used, if any;

    • (j) any emergency in connection with the dive; and

    • (k) any other factor relevant to the safety or health of any person involved in the dive.

  • (3) A supervisor must, after completion of an entry in the supervisor’s logbook in accordance with subsection (2), immediately sign the entry and request the operator or the operator’s representative responsible for the dive to countersign the entry as soon as possible.

  • (4) A person must not make any alteration to an entry in a supervisor’s logbook unless the alteration is initialled by the supervisor and by the person who countersigned the entry.

  • (5) A supervisor must produce, on request, the supervisor’s logbook for inspection by the diving doctor who examines the supervisor for the purposes of these Regulations, at the time of the examination.

  • (6) A supervisor must keep in the supervisor’s logbook referred to in subsection (1)

    • (a) the supervisor’s diving supervisor’s certificate or ADS supervisor’s certificate;

    • (b) the supervisor’s written appointment as a supervisor under subsection 8(3);

    • (c) any certificates or other evidence of qualification in addition to those referred to in paragraph (a); and

    • (d) any certificates or other evidence of medical examination received from a diving doctor.

  • (7) A supervisor must retain the supervisor’s logbook referred to in subsection (1) for a period of not less than two years after the day on which the last entry is made in it.

Keeping of Records

  •  (1) When a person involved in a diving operation is in a compression chamber, the supervisor must keep a record or ensure that a record is kept, at regular intervals of not more than 30 minutes, of the time and depth gauge readings and of the main components of the atmosphere in the compression chamber, including

    • (a) the oxygen and carbon dioxide; and

    • (b) the temperature and humidity.

  • (2) The supervisor must keep a copy of any certifications and inspections carried out on the diving plant and equipment used and must keep a record of

    • (a) the results of any analyses of any breathing mixture used;

    • (b) any scheduled and unscheduled maintenance performed on any component of the diving plant and equipment used; and

    • (c) the results of any readings taken under subsection (1).

  • (3) On completion of a diving operation, the supervisor must deliver the records and copies kept under subsection (2) to the diving contractor who conducted the diving operation.

  • (4) The supervisor must make a tape recording of all communications between the divers or the pilots involved in a dive that is part of the diving operation and the supervisor during the pre-dive system check and during the dive and must retain the tape recording for a minimum of 48 hours after the completion of the diving operation.

PART 6Divers

Category I Dives

 A person must not make a category I dive in a diving operation unless the person

  • (a) is 18 years of age or older;

  • (b) has been certified to be medically fit to dive by a diving doctor who has

    • (i) inspected the person’s diver’s logbook referred to in section 61,

    • (ii) examined the person not more than 12 months before the period during which the diving operation is to be conducted, and

    • (iii) recorded the results of the examination including, in the case of a person 35 years of age or older, the results of a stress ECG performance test on a treadmill or a bicycle, on a medical examination record in the form set out in Schedule 7 or in another form acceptable to the Chief Safety Officer and on a diver’s medical certificate in the person’s diver’s logbook;

  • (c) has delivered a copy of the diver’s medical certificate referred to in paragraph (b) to the diving contractor who conducts the diving operation;

  • (d) holds

    • (i) a valid category I diving certificate issued under section 53 or 68,

    • (ii) during the first year in which the person makes category I dives in a diving operation, a valid document that is

      • (A) issued on the basis of training and experience that are equivalent to the training and experience referred to in paragraph 53(1)(a), and

      • (B) acceptable to the Chief Safety Officer,

    • (iii) a valid category II diving certificate issued under section 55 or 68 or a valid document referred to in paragraph 54(1)(b), or

    • (iv) a valid category III diving certificate issued under section 57 or 68 or a valid document referred to in paragraph 56(1)(b); and

  • (e) has demonstrated to the supervisor that

    • (i) the person is capable of using, and has sufficient experience in the use of, the type of diving plant and equipment and breathing mixture to be used in the diving operation and is familiar with the relevant provisions of the procedures manual referred to in paragraph 3(4)(a) and the contingency plan referred to in paragraph 3(4)(g) to be followed in the diving operation, and

    • (ii) the person’s involvement in the diving operation is in no way contrary to any restriction inserted in the person’s diving certificate or attached to the document referred to in paragraph (d) under section 58.

Category I Diving Certificates

  •  (1) The Chief Safety Officer may, on application, issue a category I diving certificate that is valid for one year to a person who has attained a standard of competence in category I diving that is acceptable to the Chief Safety Officer and who

    • (a) holds a first-aid certificate acceptable to the Chief Safety Officer and has

      • (i) successfully completed, at a school, institution or company acceptable to the Chief Safety Officer, training in the theoretical and practical aspects of diving appropriate to category I diving, including

        • (A) the use of air as a breathing mixture,

        • (B) surface-oriented diving techniques and operational procedures,

        • (C) diving techniques and operational procedures for use with SCUBA,

        • (D) the use and operation of any diving plant and equipment, including hand-held tools,

        • (E) the use of communications systems,

        • (F) the use of decompression tables,

        • (G) emergency procedures, including hyperbaric first-aid techniques and the operation of surface compression chambers, and

        • (H) a thorough study of these Regulations, and

      • (ii) made at least 50 dives in various environmental conditions and locations and for various purposes with a bottom time totalling at least 50 hours, including

        • (A) at least 40 dives to depths of up to 20 m with a bottom time totalling at least 43 hours, of which at least 10 were dives to depths of between 15 m and 20 m with a bottom time totalling at least seven hours, and

        • (B) at least 10 dives to depths of between 20 m and 50 m with a bottom time totalling at least seven hours, of which at least three hours were at depths of between 40 m and 50 m and at least one hour was at a depth of at least 50 m;

    • (b) held a category I diving certificate that was issued under this subsection but that is no longer valid because it was not renewed under subsection (2) and who has made at least 28 dives with a bottom time totalling at least 24 hours during the 12 months before the application;

    • (c) has demonstrated to the Board that their training and experience are equivalent to the training and experience described in paragraph (a); or

    • (d) holds a valid document referred to in paragraph 52(d).

  • (2) The Chief Safety Officer may, on application by the holder of a category I diving certificate issued under subsection (1), renew the certificate for a period of one year if the holder of the certificate has made at least 24 category I dives with a bottom time totalling at least 20 hours during the 12 months before the application.

Category II Dives

  •  (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person must not make a category II dive in a diving operation unless the person

    • (a) meets the criteria set out in paragraphs 52(a) to (c) and (e); and

    • (b) holds

      • (i) a valid category II diving certificate issued under section 55 or 68,

      • (ii) during the first year in which the person makes a category II dive in a diving operation, a valid document that is

        • (A) issued on the basis of training and experience that are equivalent to the training and experience referred to in paragraph 55(1)(a), and

        • (B) acceptable to the Chief Safety Officer, or

      • (iii) a valid category III diving certificate issued under section 57 or 68 or a valid document referred to in paragraph 56(1)(b).

  • (2) A diver who holds a category I diving certificate may make a category II dive for training purposes in a diving operation if

    • (a) the diver is employed in a diving program on a full-time basis to make category I dives;

    • (b) the dive is authorized as a training dive by the operator or the operator’s representative responsible for the diving operation and the person in charge of the craft or installation from which the dive will be conducted; and

    • (c) the diver makes the dive under the close supervision of a diver who holds a category II or category III diving certificate.

 

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