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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 6Divers (continued)

Category II Diving Certificates

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

    • (a) 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 II diving, including

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

        • (B) mixed gas diving techniques and operational procedures,

        • (C) the use and operation of any diving plant and equipment,

        • (D) any type of underwater work generally done by a diver,

        • (E) the use of communications systems,

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

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

      • (ii) been employed to make category I dives for at least the 12 months before the application and has made at least 60 dives in a diving bell or diving submersible with a bottom time totalling at least 20 hours, including at least 30 lock-out dives of which four were to a depth of more than 50 m, two were to a depth of more than 80 m and one was to a depth of 100 m or more, with a bottom time totalling at least 30 minutes per dive;

    • (b) held a category II diving certificate that was issued under this subsection but that is no longer valid because it was not renewed under subsection (2) and who has made at least 28 dives with a bottom time totalling at least 24 hours, including at least 10 category II dives with a bottom time totalling at least 10 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 54(1)(b).

  • (2) The Chief Safety Officer may, on application by the holder of a category II 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 dives with a bottom time totalling at least 20 hours, including at least eight category II dives with a bottom time totalling at least eight hours, during the 12 months before the application.

Category III Dives

  •  (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person must not make a category III 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 a valid category III diving certificate issued under section 57 or 68 or, during the first year in which the person makes a category III dive in a diving operation, a valid document that is

      • (i) issued on the basis of training and experience that are equivalent to the training and experience described in paragraph 57(1)(a), and

      • (ii) acceptable to the Chief Safety Officer.

  • (2) A diver who holds a category II diving certificate may make a category III 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 II 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 III diving certificate.

Category III Diving Certificates

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

    • (a) 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 III diving, including

        • (A) at least one saturation dive to a depth of not less than 75 m and, during the course of the saturation dive, at least two lock-out dives with a bottom time totalling at least 30 minutes per lock-out dive,

        • (B) saturation diving techniques and operational procedures,

        • (C) the use and operation of any diving plant and equipment,

        • (D) any type of underwater work generally done by a diver,

        • (E) emergency procedures relevant to saturation diving, including hyperbaric first-aid techniques and the operation of compression chambers, and

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

      • (ii) been employed to make category II dives for at least the two years before the application and has made at least 24 category II dives;

    • (b) held a category III 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 32 hours, including at least 10 category II dives with a bottom time totalling at least 10 hours and at least one saturation dive, 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 referred to in paragraph (a); or

    • (d) holds a valid document referred to in paragraph 56(1)(b).

  • (2) The Chief Safety Officer may, on application by the holder of a category III 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 dives with a bottom time totalling at least 24 hours, including at least eight category II dives from a diving bell or diving submersible with a bottom time totalling at least eight hours and at least one saturation dive, during the 12 months before the application.

Restrictions Respecting Diving Certificates and Equivalent Documents

  •  (1) The Chief Safety Officer may insert in a diving certificate issued under section 53, 55, 57 or 68, or attach to a document referred to in paragraph 52(d), 54(1)(b) or 56(1)(b), restrictions on diving by the holder of the certificate or document if the Chief Safety Officer considers the restrictions necessary for safety reasons.

  • (2) If the Chief Safety Officer inserts a restriction in a certificate or attaches a restriction to a document under subsection (1), the Chief Safety Officer must give the holder of the certificate or document an opportunity to show cause why the restriction should not be inserted or attached.

Invalidation of Diving Certificates

  •  (1) The Chief Safety Officer may invalidate a diving certificate issued under section 53, 55, 57 or 68 if, in the opinion of the Chief Safety Officer, the holder of the certificate has become incompetent or incapacitated.

  • (2) If the Chief Safety Officer proposes to invalidate a diving certificate under subsection (1), the Chief Safety Officer must give the holder of the certificate at least 30 days’ notice in writing setting out the reasons for the proposed invalidation and must give the holder an opportunity to show cause why the certificate should not be invalidated.

Diver’s Duties

  •  (1) Subject to subsection (2), a diver must not make a dive in a diving operation unless

    • (a) before the dive, the diver has

      • (i) checked the diver’s personal diving equipment and is satisfied that the equipment is in good working order, and

      • (ii) reported to the supervisor any remedies, treatments, pharmaceuticals, intoxicants or drugs taken by the diver within the 48 hours before the dive, any injury or illness experienced by the diver since the diver’s most recent dive and any restrictions imposed by a diving doctor as a result of the diving doctor’s examination of the diver after an injury or illness;

    • (b) in the case of a diver who has experienced an injury or illness other than decompression sickness since the diver’s most recent dive, the diver has received approval for further diving from a diving doctor or a hyperbaric first-aid technician who consulted with a diving doctor concerning the injury or illness;

    • (c) in the case of a diver who has experienced decompression sickness type I, at least two days have elapsed since the diver successfully completed recompression therapy;

    • (d) in the case of a diver who has experienced decompression sickness type II, at least five days have elapsed since the diver successfully completed recompression therapy and the diver has received approval for further diving from a diving doctor; and

    • (e) in the case of a diver who has experienced decompression sickness type I in two consecutive dives, the diver has received approval for further diving from a diving doctor.

  • (2) A diver must not make a saturation dive unless

    • (a) in the case of a diver whose most recent dive was a saturation dive of 14 days’ duration or less, at least 14 days have elapsed since the diver completed decompression; and

    • (b) in the case of a diver whose most recent dive was a saturation dive of more than 14 days’ duration, at least 28 days have elapsed since the diver completed decompression.

  • (3) When a diver who is employed in a diving operation believes the diver is unfit or unable to dive at any time during that employment, the diver must so inform the supervisor and must give the reason for that belief.

  • (4) If a diver becomes aware of any oil or other contaminant in waters in which a diving operation is being conducted, the diver must immediately inform the supervisor of the contaminant.

Diver’s Logbooks

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

  • (2) A diver must, as soon as possible after making a dive, enter in the diver’s logbook referred to in subsection (1), for each dive made by the diver,

    • (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 dive;

    • (d) the name or other designation and the 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 the supervisor of the dive;

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

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

    • (i) the decompression procedures followed by the diver;

    • (j) the type of personal diving equipment used by the diver;

    • (k) any injury suffered by the diver during the dive;

    • (l) the work performed by the diver;

    • (m) a description of any discomfort or illness, including decompression sickness, suffered by the diver; and

    • (n) any other factor relevant to the safety or health of the diver.

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

  • (4) A person must not make any alteration to an entry in a diver’s logbook referred to in subsection (1) unless the alteration is initialled by the diver and by the supervisor who countersigned the entry.

  • (5) A diver must produce, on request, the diver’s logbook referred to in subsection (1) for inspection by the diving doctor who examines the diver for the purposes of these Regulations, at the time of the examination.

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

    • (a) the diver’s diving certificate or equivalent document;

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

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

  • (7) A diver must retain the diver’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.

PART 7Pilots

ADS Dives

 A person must not pilot an ADS in a diving operation unless the person

  • (a) is 18 years of age or older;

  • (b) has been certified to be medically fit

    • (i) to dive, in accordance with paragraph 52(b), or

    • (ii) to pilot an ADS, by a medical doctor who has examined the person not more than 12 months before the day on which the diving operation is to be conducted and who has recorded the results of the examination on a medical examination record in the form set out in Schedule 5 or in another form acceptable to the Chief Safety Officer and on a pilot’s medical certificate in that person’s pilot’s logbook referred to in section 66;

  • (c) has delivered a copy of the medical certificate referred to in paragraph 52(b), or the medical certificate referred to in subparagraph (b)(ii), to the diving contractor who conducts the diving operation;

  • (d) holds a valid pilot’s certificate issued under section 63 or 68, or a valid document that is

    • (i) issued on the basis of training and experience that are equivalent to the training and experience referred to in paragraph 63(1)(a), and

    • (ii) acceptable to the Chief Safety Officer; 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 ADS and associated equipment 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 pilot’s certificate or attached to the person’s document referred to in paragraph (d) under section 64.

Pilot’s Certificates

  •  (1) The Chief Safety Officer may, on application, issue a pilot’s certificate that is valid for one year to a person who has attained a standard of competence in the operation of an ADS that is acceptable to the Chief Safety Officer and who

    • (a) has successfully completed at least 40 hours of technical training in the design, construction, use and maintenance of an ADS at a school, institution or company acceptable to the Chief Safety Officer and who has made at least 25 ADS dives under various conditions with a bottom time totalling at least 40 hours;

    • (b) held a pilot’s 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 six ADS dives with a bottom time totalling at least 20 hours to an average depth of at least 20 m during the 12 months before the application;

    • (c) has demonstrated to the Board their 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 62(d).

  • (2) The Chief Safety Officer may, on application by the holder of a pilot’s certificate issued under subsection (1), renew the certificate for a period of one year if the holder of the certificate has made at least four ADS dives with a dive time totalling at least 16 hours during the 12 months before the application.

Restrictions Respecting Pilot’s Certificates and Equivalent Documents

  •  (1) The Chief Safety Officer may insert in a pilot’s certificate issued under section 63 or 68, or attach to a document referred to in paragraph 62(d), restrictions on the piloting of an ADS by the holder of the certificate or document if the Chief Safety Officer considers the restrictions necessary for safety reasons.

  • (2) If the Chief Safety Officer inserts a restriction in a certificate or attaches a restriction to a document under subsection (1), the Chief Safety Officer must give the holder of the certificate or document an opportunity to show cause why the restriction should not be so inserted or attached.

Invalidation of Pilot’s Certificates

  •  (1) The Chief Safety Officer may invalidate a pilot’s certificate issued under section 63 or 68 if, in the opinion of the Chief Safety Officer, the holder of the certificate has become incompetent or incapacitated.

  • (2) If the Chief Safety Officer proposes to invalidate a pilot’s certificate under subsection (1), the Chief Safety Officer must give the holder of the certificate at least 30 days’ notice in writing setting out the reasons for the proposed invalidation and must give the holder an opportunity to show cause why the certificate should not be invalidated.

 

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