F O R E W O R D
The research diving program of Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
University of California, San Diego (SIO, UCSD) is the oldest
of its type in the country. The first non-military class in
the U.S. which taught the use of self-contained underwater
breathing apparatus (scuba) was held by scientists for scientists
on the Scripps campus during the summer of 1951.
In 1952 two individuals died using university-owned scuba
equipment. This led to the President's Office restricting
diving to those who had been trained through the program at
Scripps. A statewide committee was formed to address the problems
of training, equipment standards, air purity, physical examinations,
recordkeeping, and diver certification.
These committee members were physicians, environmental health
and safety specialists, biologists, physicists, engineers,
most of whom were themselves divers. Their progress, the increasing
availability of diving equipment and development of training
and certification procedures led President Sproul in 1953
to accept the use of research diving as a viable means of
conducting academic research within the university. The committee
published its first set of Rules and Regulations covering
the use of diving in 1954. This manual represents the 1998
revision of that document. It should also be noted that in
1953 Los Angeles county sent three individuals to Scripps
for diver training. This trio then developed the Los Angeles
underwater instructors program, the oldest such instructor
certification program in the U. S.
The university decentralization of the early 1960's led
to development, by the Scripps Diving Officer of programs
on each of the other campuses. At the request of the President's
Office, the Diving Officer also developed the first "University
Guide for Diving Safety." This document, first published in
March 1967, allows reciprocity between the various campuses,
and is reviewed yearly by the campus Diving Safety Officers.
The safety record of research diving within the university
is an enviable one and is the product of continued monitoring
by the campus diving authorities.
Scientific diving was recently exempted from the OSHA Commercial
Diving Standard based upon the documented history of self
regulation in the scientific community.
The following is a quote from the State of California Title
8 Article 152 General Industry Safety Orders with the specific
exception and necessary requirements for that exception.
(E)Scientific diving operations under the direction and control
of a diving program containing at least the following elements:
1.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.
2.Diving control (safety) board, composed of active research
divers, 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."
This manual was modified to comply with the American Academy
of Underwater Sciences (AAUS) Standards for Scientific Diving
and Certification and Operations of Scientific Programs which
was published April of 1987. The AAUS document represents
the minimal safety standards for scientific diving at the
present state of the art.
The policies, procedures and standards set forth in this Diving
Safety Manual are intended to govern the training and diving
operations of all personnel participating in the Research
Diving Program at SIO, UCSD. It applies to all divers operating
under University auspices, including visiting divers, and
to those campus officers responsible for the management and
administration of the research diving program.
James R. Stewart
Chief Diving Safety Officer Emeritus
Wayne Pawelek
Diving Safety Officer
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