(1) The
requirements included in this vertical chapter shall apply throughout the state
wherever diving takes place within the jurisdiction of the department of labor
and industries. These requirements shall also be applicable to those diving
related and supportive work activities not at the diving site but which have a
direct effect on the safety of the diving operations. Examples may include but
are not limited to: The supply of breathing air or gas; the supply of
materials, equipment or supplies required by this chapter; the maintenance of
diving equipment.
(2) This standard
applies to diving and related support operations conducted in connection with
all types of work and employments, including general industry, construction,
ship repairing, shipbuilding, shipbreaking and longshoring. However, this
standard does not apply to any diving operation:
(a) Performed solely for instructional
purposes, using open-circuit, compressed-air SCUBA and conducted within the
no-decompression limits;
(b)
Performed solely for search, rescue, or related public safety purposes by or
under the control of a governmental agency; or
(c) Governed by 45 C.F.R. Part
46 (Protection
of Human Subjects, United States Department of Health and Human Services) or
equivalent rules or regulations established by another federal agency, which
regulate research, development, or related purposes involving human
subjects.
(d) Defined as scientific
diving and which is under the direction and control of a diving program
containing at least the following elements:
(i) Diving safety manual which includes at a
minimum: Procedures covering all diving operations specific to the program;
procedures for emergency care, including recompression and evacuation; and
criteria for diver training and certification.
(ii) Diving control (safety) board, with the
majority of its members being active divers, which shall at a minimum have the
authority to: Approve and monitor diving projects; review and revise the diving
safety manual; assure compliance with the manual; certify the depths to which a
diver has been trained; take disciplinary action for unsafe practices; and,
assure adherence to the buddy system (a diver is accompanied by and is in
continuous contact with another diver in the water) for SCUBA diving.
(3) This chapter shall
augment the requirements of the general safety and health standard, chapter
296-24 WAC, the general occupational health standard, chapter
296-62 WAC, and
safety and health core rules, chapter
296-800 WAC. In instances where this
chapter is in direct conflict with the requirements of any general horizontal
standard, the requirements of this chapter shall apply.
(4) Hoisting gear used in diving operations
shall be inspected and certified as required by chapter
296-56 WAC, safety
standards for longshore, stevedore and related waterfront operations.
(5) Application in emergencies. An employer
may deviate from the requirements of this standard to the extent necessary to
prevent or minimize a situation which is likely to cause death, serious
physical harm, or major environmental damage, provided that the employer:
(a) Notifies the assistant director of the
department of labor and industries in Olympia or the regional administrator for
the region within 48 hours of the onset of the emergency situation indicating
the nature of the emergency and extent of the deviation from the prescribed
regulations; and
(b) Upon request
from the authority notified, submits such information in writing.
(6) Employer obligation. The
employer shall be responsible for compliance with:
(a) All provisions of this standard of
general applicability; and
(b) All
requirements pertaining to specific diving modes to the extent diving
operations in such modes are conducted.
(7) Alternative requirements for recreational
diving instructors and diving guides. Employers of recreational diving
instructors and diving guides are not required to comply with the
decompression-chamber requirements specified by WAC
296-37-545(2)(b) and
(3)(c)(iii), and WAC
296-37-560(2)(a)
when they meet all of the following
conditions:
(a) The instructor or guide is
engaging solely in recreational diving instruction or dive-guiding
operations;
(b) The instructor or
guide is diving within the no-decompression limits in these
operations;
(c) The instructor or
guide is using a nitrox breathing-gas mixture consisting of a high percentage
of oxygen (more than 22% by volume) mixed with nitrogen;
(d) The instructor or guide is using an
open-circuit, semiclosed-circuit, or closed-circuit self-contained underwater
breathing apparatus (SCUBA); and
(e) The employer of the instructor or guide
is complying with all requirements of Appendix C of this subpart.
