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Canada Oil and Gas Diving Regulations (SOR/88-600)

Regulations are current to 2024-08-18

PART VSupervisors (continued)

Oxygen Supply Systems and Breathing Mixture Supply Systems

  •  (1) No supervisor shall 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 19;

    • (b) a breathing mixture supply system is used unless the breathing mixture supply system meets the requirements set out in sections 20 and 21; and

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

  • (2) Where an analyser 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 of the dive shall ensure that the analyser is recalibrated in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions for that analyser, where practicable, every two hours.

  • (3) No diving supervisor shall, in a diving operation supervised by the supervisor, use or permit to be used an on-line gas blender or a diver’s gas recovery system in the diving operation unless throughout the period that the blender or the diver’s gas recovery system is in use the requirements of section 21 are complied with.

Breathing Mixture

  •  (1) No supervisor shall commence 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 22;

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

    • (c) the quantities of breathing mixture referred to in subparagraphs 22(1)(a)(ii) and (iii) are available for immediate use at a flow rate, temperature and pressure that are safe for the user.

  • (2) No supervisor shall 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 that diver to reach a skip, diving bell or diving submersible used in connection with the dive, a reserve supply referred to in subparagraph 22(1)(a)(ii) or the surface, and

      • (ii) available to the diver’s stand-by diver for immediate use consists of an adequate quantity 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 that skip, diving bell or diving submersible, as the case may be, or at the surface; and

    • (b) the supervisor has analysed the breathing mixture for the accuracy of its oxygen content immediately prior to the dive.

  • (3) No supervisor shall, 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 shall protect any breathing mixture to be used in a diving operation supervised by the supervisor from any likelihood of contamination.

  • (5) Where 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, that supervisor shall 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 shall enter in the diving operations logbook referred to in paragraph 9(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 commenced and terminated including any time during which the diving operation was interrupted, or the date and the time at which the supervisor began the supervision and the time at which that 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 pursuant to paragraph 39(1)(a) and 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 that 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 shall, 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) No person shall 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) The supervisor of a diving operation shall produce, on request, the diving operations logbook for the diving operation for inspection by a conservation engineer pursuant to paragraph 43(b) of the Act.

  • (5) At the time there is no space for further entries in a diving operations logbook for a diving operation, or at the time the diving operation is completed, whichever occurs first, the supervisor who made the last entry in the logbook shall 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 shall deliver the logbook to the operator responsible for the diving operation as soon as possible after the accident.

Supervisor’s Logbooks

  •  (1) A supervisor shall 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 shall, as soon as possible after supervision of a dive or after a period of supervision of a portion of a dive, enter in the logbook referred to in subsection (1), 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 50(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 that 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 shall, 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) No person shall make any alteration to an entry in a supervisor’s logbook referred to in subsection (1) unless the alteration is initialled by the supervisor and by the person who countersigned the entry.

  • (5) A supervisor shall produce, on request, the supervisor’s logbook referred to in subsection (1) for inspection by

    • (a) a conservation engineer pursuant to paragraph 43(b) of the Act; and

    • (b) the diving doctor who examines the supervisor for the purposes of these Regulations, at the time of the examination.

  • (6) A supervisor shall 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 pursuant to subsection 9(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 shall retain the supervisor’s logbook referred to in subsection (1) for a period of not less than two years after the day of the last entry made in it.

Keeping of Records

  •  (1) Where a person involved in a diving operation is in a compression chamber, the supervisor of the diving operation shall keep a record or ensure that a record is kept, at regular intervals of not more than 30 minutes, of the time and the 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 of a diving operation shall 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 pursuant to subsection (1),

    and shall keep a copy of any certifications and inspections carried out on the diving plant and equipment used.

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

  • (4) The supervisor of a diving operation shall 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 shall retain the tape recording for a minimum of 48 hours after the completion of the diving operation.

PART VIDivers

Category I Dives

 No person shall 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 63,

    • (ii) examined the person not more than 12 months prior to 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 VII or in another form acceptable to the Minister, 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 pursuant to section 54 or 71,

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

      • (A) issued by a country other than Canada on the basis of training and experience that are equivalent to the training and experience referred to in paragraph 54(1)(a), and

      • (B) acceptable to the Minister,

    • (iii) a valid category II diving certificate issued pursuant to section 56 or 71 or a valid document referred to in paragraph 55(1)(b), or

    • (iv) a valid category III diving certificate issued pursuant to section 58 or 71 or a valid document referred to in paragraph 57(1)(b); and

  • (e) has satisfied the supervisor of the diving operation 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 4(4)(a) and the contingency plan referred to in paragraph 4(4)(i) 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

      • (A) inserted in that person’s diving certificate or attached to that person’s document referred to in paragraph (d) pursuant to section 59, or

      • (B) inserted in that person’s diver’s medical certificate pursuant to section 60.

Category I Diving Certificates

  •  (1) The Minister 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 Minister and who

    • (a) holds a first-aid certificate acceptable to the Minister and has

      • (i) successfully completed, at a school, institution or company acceptable to the Minister, 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 pursuant to this subsection but is no longer valid because it was not renewed pursuant to subsection (2) and who made at least 28 dives with a bottom time totalling at least 24 hours during the 12 months preceding the application;

    • (c) until December 31, 1990, has satisfied the Minister that the person’s training and experience are equivalent to the training and experience described in paragraph (a); or

    • (d) holds a valid document referred to in paragraph 53(d).

  • (2) The Minister may, on application by the holder of a category I diving certificate issued pursuant to subsection (1), renew the certificate for a period of one year where 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 preceding the application.

 

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