Diving

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Occupational diving is integral to many industries and can pose hazards and risks such as drowning, respiratory or circulatory problems, hypothermia, or physical injuries. Diving operations must be well planned and carried out by experienced divers with the proper knowledge, training, and experience to carry out the work. It is important for employers to assess the hazards and prepare site-specific safe diving procedures. Occupational divers and supervisors must have the appropriate medical certification and employers must also provide information so that each person involved in the diving operation understands the potential hazards involved and the control measures in place to eliminate or minimize them.

Workplaces must follow the requirements of the CSA Standard Z275.2-20 "Occupational Safety Code for Diving Operations".

For more information, see Aquaculture Code of Practice.

Employer duties

Employers must take every reasonable precaution to protect the health and safety of everyone performing diving operations in their workplace. [OHS Act, S. 12(1)(a)]

Employers must make sure all diving operations meet the CSA Standard Z275.2-20 "Occupational Safety Code for Diving Operations". [OHS General Regs, S. 48.1] This standard includes information on:

  • Hazards of diving operations
  • Medical qualification and diver training
  • Required diving records
  • How to plan diving operations including planning for the recovery of an unconscious diver, equipment inspection, and transportation to the water surface
  • Emergency and contingency planning
  • Requirements for the compressed breathing air
  • Decompression procedures and tables
  • Diving equipment requirements

This standard also contains specific equipment and safety requirements for the following diving systems:

  • SCUBA diving systems
  • Surface-supplied diving systems
  • Deep diving systems
  • One-atmosphere diving systems
  • Diving in contaminated environments
  • Nitrox diving

Note: When workers are performing occupational diving tasks with appropriate safety precautions, the employer’s duty is to provide a lifejacket or personal flotation device and make sure they are worn does not apply. [OHS General Regs, S. 45.4.1(2)(c)]

Common diving precautions include:

  • Diving must never be performed alone.
  • Employers must not force divers to perform dives or penalize them for not diving if they decide not to enter the water for valid reasons such as weather and water conditions, illness, injury, or impairment.
  • Divers must be protected from health and safety hazards that could be caused by equipment or material at or near the dive site.
  • Use cage guards on all boat propellers, or make sure that props on boats are disengaged and locked out while being used as a dive base.
  • Divers diving in open water without a lifeline must carry an audio or visual signalling device.
  • Each diver must keep a personal logbook and the workplace must keep a dive base logbook to record the required information for each dive.

Workers

Workers must: [OHS Act, S. 16]

  • Properly use any equipment that is required.
  • Follow the instructions, education, and training about diving provided by your employer.
  • Report any hazards.
  • Do not perform hazardous work without appropriate safety measures, including any personal protective equipment, as required by the employer.
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Buoys, flags, lights, lamps or flares shall be deployed in a manner that defines the boundary limits of the dive site. They must be removed when the dive is not in progress.

General Regulations
EC180/87

Part 45 PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

Section 45.4.1 Flotation device, when required

45.4.1 (1) An employer shall ensure that a worker who is employed under conditions that involve a risk of drowning is provided with and wears at all times a lifejacket or personal flotation device that is Flotation device, when required

(a) suitable to the conditions in the workplace; and

(b) of the correct size and appropriate for the weight of the worker who will wear it.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if

(a) other sufficient safety measures are in place to protect a worker from falling into water, including but not limited to a guardrail or safety net installed and used in accordance with the relevant requirements of Part 2 of the Fall Protection Regulations (EC633/04) made under the Act;

(b) the worker is a lifeguard on duty; or

(c) the worker is performing occupational diving tasks.

[EC2021-126, s. 40]

Part 48 UNDERWATER DIVING OPERATIONS

Section 48.1 Underwater diving operations

48.1 The employer shall ensure that all underwater diving operations meet the CSA Standard Z275.2-20 "Occupational Safety Code for Diving Operations".

[EC2021-126, s. 47]

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT
R.S.P.E.I. 1988, c. O-1.01

Section 12 Duties of employers

12. (1) An employer shall ensure

(a) that every reasonable precaution is taken to protect the occupational health and safety of persons at or near the workplace;

(b) that any item, device, material, equipment or machinery provided for the use of workers at a workplace is properly maintained, and is properly equipped with the safety features or devices, as recommended by the manufacturer or required by the regulations;

(c) that such information, instruction, training, supervision and facilities are provided as are necessary to ensure the occupational health and safety of the workers;

(d) that workers and supervisors are familiar with occupational health or safety hazards at the workplace;

(e) that workers are made familiar with the proper use of all safety features or devices, equipment and clothing required for their protection; and

(f) that the employer's undertaking is conducted so that workers are not exposed to occupational health or safety hazards as a result of the undertaking.

(2) An employer shall

(a) consult and cooperate with the joint occupational health and safety committee or the representative, as applicable;

(b) cooperate with any person performing a duty or exercising a power conferred by this Act or the regulations;

(c) provide such additional training of committee members as may be prescribed by the regulations;

(d) comply with this Act and the regulations and ensure that workers at the workplace comply with this Act and the regulations; and

(e) where an occupational health and safety policy or occupational health and safety program is required under this Act, establish the policy or program.

(3) An employer shall establish and implement as a policy, in accordance with the regulations, measures to prevent and investigate occurrences of harassment in the workplace.

[S.P.E.I. 2018, c. 45, s. 3]

Section 16 Duties of worker

16. (1) A worker, while at work, shall

(a) take every reasonable precaution to protect the worker's own occupational health and safety and that of other persons at or near the workplace;

(b) cooperate with the employer and with the other workers to protect the worker's own occupational health and safety and that of other persons at or near the workplace;

(c) wear or use such individual protective equipment as is required by this Act and the regulations;

(d) consult and cooperate with the committee or representative, if any;

(e) cooperate with any person performing a duty or exercising a power conferred by this Act or the regulations; and

(f) comply with this Act and the regulations and any policy or program established by an employer pursuant to this Act or the regulations.

(2) Where a worker believes that any item, device, material, equipment or machinery, condition or aspect of the workplace is or may be dangerous to the worker's occupational health or safety or that of other persons at or near the workplace, the worker

(a) shall immediately report it to a supervisor;

(b) shall, where the matter is not remedied to the worker's satisfaction, report it to the committee or the representative, if any; and

(c) may, where the matter is not remedied to the worker's satisfaction after the worker reports it in accordance with clauses (a) and (b), report it to an officer.

(3) Clause (2)(b) does not apply in respect of a complaint of harassment in the workplace.

[S.P.E.I. 2018, c. 45, s. 4]