Occupational Dive Training

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Occupational diving may be considered any application of professional diving whereby a diver engages in underwater work for industrial, scientific, engineering, maintenance, or other commercial purposes, which are similar to work done out of the water, and where the diving is usually secondary to the work. This can include Public Safety Diving, Scientific Diving, Commercial Diving, and even Media Production as well.

The primary procedural distinction between occupational and recreational diving, is that the recreational diver dives for enjoyment, and is responsible primarily for their own actions and safety, but may voluntarily accept limited responsibility for other divers around them. Whereas the occupational diver is being paid to work (often hazardous), is part of a team of people with extensive responsibilities and obligations to each other, usually to an employer or client, and these responsibilities and obligations are formally defined in contracts, legislation, regulations, operations manuals, standing orders, and compulsory or voluntary codes of practice. Additionally, while the recreational diving industry is Self-Regulated, Occupational Diving, on the other hand, is governed by legal framework and industrial regulations.

The Occupational EANx Diver Course provides qualified candidates with the base working knowledge and skills necessary to work safely as a qualified Occupational SCUBA Diver using air or EANx gases up to 40%.

A list of required academics and practical requirements includes:

• Diving equipment and PPE used for occupational work
• Diving equipment maintenance and care
• Industrial standards
• Industrial and marine safety
• Hazardous materials
• Regulations regarding occupational work underwater
• Communications and coordination
• Operations Planning
• Underwater hazards and awareness
• Environmental awareness and safety
• Underwater inspections and assessments
• Overhead and debris safety
• Salvage operations
• Hoists, cranes, and cables
• Rigging and lifting
• Lift bags
• Cable, line, and tether management
• Structural stability, density, suction, and lifting requirements
• Maintenance practices and common tools
• Specialty underwater tools
• MIG, TIG, and Oxy-Acetylene welding
• Basic underwater imaging and videography
• Dive logs
• Documentation, records, and reports
• Emergency procedures and rescue
• and more.

The minimum age for this course is:

• 18 years or older.

The minimum prerequisites for this course are:

• MSD Certified
• Divers Alert Network (DAN) – DFA Pro certified
• EANx Nitrox Certified
• Dry Suit Certified
• Full Face Mask Certified
• Spatial Disorientation Trained
• Mastery of Core Skills for diving (Refer to Question 8).
• Candidates must have good swimming skills, including a good development of basic swim strokes, and pass a Class 2 Swim Test (Refer to question 11) prior to being allowed to enroll in the course.
• It is STRONGLY recommended that students have at least 200 logged dives, considerable experience as a diver, and have spent time practicing basic and advanced level skills on each dive, before considering enrolling in this course. Including: neutral buoyancy, breathing, finning, navigation, dive planning, gas management, understanding dive science, use of equipment, etc.
• Candidates must have the ability to remain calm in stressful situations on shore, in the water on the surface, and underwater.

Students must supply their own equipment, and all equipment must meet safety requirements. Students may include the purchase of all required equipment, or equipment they are missing, as a part of course enrollment. A Minimum Required Equipment list will be provided upon course registration.

Students MUST receive a diving medical examination from a hyperbaric physician or equivalent, and MUST turn in the completed and signed medical questionnaire available for download at the bottom of this page, before enrollment.

Course graduates will receive a lifetime internationally recognized Occupational EANx Diver (Unrestricted to 40m) certification from the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD), and they will be authorized to work in the commercial industry as an Occupational EANx SCUBA Diver.

The Surface Supplied Diver course provides the qualified Occupational EANx Diver candidate with the base knowledge and skills necessary to safely operate surface-supplied systems for occupational diving use.

A list of required academics and practical requirements includes:

• Low pressure and high pressure compressors
• Compressor operations and safety
• Air quality and contamination
• Air Discharge Volume and compressor pressure requirements
• Sub-tanks and bank systems
• Hoses, lines, and umbilical systems
• Regulations regarding occupational work underwater
• Hazards associated with surface-supplied diving
• Safety requirements for supplied operations
• Communications and coordination
• Team positions required for supplied diving operations
• Pre-dive, through dive, and post-dive checks
• Line tending and topside support operations
• Hose, line, or umbilical management
• Regulators, masks, and helmets for surface-supplied use
• Breathing resistance adjustment and flow rates
• Bailout systems and gas management
• Decompression Diving Profiles and Tables
• In-Water Decompression Procedures
• Emergency procedures
• Marine engines
• Diver thermal protection options
• Mixed-gas diving
• Hyperbaric Chambers and Operations
• and more.

The minimum age for this course is:

• 18 years or older.

The minimum prerequisites for this course are:

• MSD Certified
• Divers Alert Network (DAN) – DFA Pro certified
• EANx Nitrox Certified
• Dry Suit Certified
• Full Face Mask Certified
• Spatial Disorientation Trained
• Occupational EANx Diver Certified
• Mastery of Core Skills for diving (Refer to Question 8).
• Candidates must have good swimming skills, including a good development of basic swim strokes, and pass a Class 2 Swim Test (Refer to question 11) prior to being allowed to enroll in the course.
• It is STRONGLY recommended that students have at least 200 logged dives, considerable experience as a diver, and have spent time practicing basic and advanced level skills on each dive, before considering enrolling in this course. Including: neutral buoyancy, breathing, finning, navigation, dive planning, gas management, understanding dive science, use of equipment, etc.
• Candidates must have the ability to remain calm in stressful situations on shore, in the water on the surface, and underwater.

Students must supply their own equipment, and all equipment must meet safety requirements. Students may include the purchase of all required equipment, or equipment they are missing, as a part of course enrollment. A Minimum Required Equipment list will be provided upon course registration.

Students MUST receive a diving medical examination from a hyperbaric physician or equivalent, and MUST turn in the completed and signed medical questionnaire available for download at the bottom of this page, before enrollment.

Course graduates will receive a lifetime internationally recognized Surface Supplied Diver (Unrestricted to 50m) certification from the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD), and they will be authorized to work in the commercial industry as an Occupational Surface Supplied Diver.

The Dive Operations Supervisor course is a leadership development course designed to develop qualified Surface Supplied Diver candidates into responsible job-site supervisors, capable of managing all aspects of dive operations.

A list of required academics and practical requirements includes:

• Management Principles and Techniques
• Communication for Leaders
• Resource Management and Logistics
• OPM and Industry Standards Compliance
• Forms and Records
• Training Programs and Requirements
• Physical Fitness Requirements
• Medical Fitness Requirements
• Government and Legal Regulations
• Safety and Protection Requirements
• Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessments
• Standard Dive Operations
• Non-Standard Dive Operations
• Emergency Procedures and Modified Procedures
• PSD Operations and ICS Operations
• And more.

The minimum age for this course is:

• 18 years or older.

The minimum prerequisites for this course are:

• MSD Certified
• Divers Alert Network (DAN) – DFA Pro certified
• EANx Nitrox Certified
• Dry Suit Certified
• Full Face Mask Certified
• Spatial Disorientation Trained
• Surface-Supplied Diver Trained
• Mastery of Core Skills for diving (Refer to Question 8).
• Candidates must have good swimming skills, including a good development of basic swim strokes, and pass a Class 2 Swim Test (Refer to question 11) prior to being allowed to enroll in the course.
• Candidates must have a minimum of one year of experience working as a Surface-Supplied Diver before they can apply.
• Candidates must show logged proof of a minimum of 100 dives and 75 hours bottom time as a working occupational diver.
• The candidate should, as a minimum, present logged evidence of 50 SSBA dives and 75 hours SSBA bottom time gained over at least twelve (12) months.
• Approximately 15 dives and 8 hours bottom time should be between 30m and 50m.
• Evidence should include a broad range of high complexity dives involving decompression diving, deep diving (in the range 30 – 50m), and use of a wide range of equipment operations.
• Candidates must demonstrate a high level of proficiency in all academic and practical areas at both the Occupational EANx and Surface Supplied Diver levels.
• Candidates must have the ability to remain calm in stressful situations on shore, in the water on the surface, and underwater.

Students must supply their own equipment, and all equipment must meet safety requirements. Students may include the purchase of all required equipment, or equipment they are missing, as a part of course enrollment. A Minimum Required Equipment list will be provided upon course registration.

Students MUST receive a diving medical examination from a hyperbaric physician or equivalent, and MUST turn in the completed and signed medical questionnaire available for download at the bottom of this page, before enrollment.

Course graduates will receive a lifetime internationally recognized Surface Operations Supervisor certification from the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD), and they will be authorized to work in the commercial industry as a Dive Operations Supervisor.

The Occupational Rebreather Diver program is designed to train, certify, and re-certify for currency, qualified professional Occupational / Commercial Divers, PSD Divers, Professional Rescue Divers, Salvage Divers, and/or Scientific Divers, who maintain CCR certification, and who meet minimum prerequisite CCR experience, with the knowledge and skills necessary to safely utilize closed-circuit systems for occupational purposes, including (but not limited to): Search and Recovery Operations, Salvage Operations, Inspections, Surveys, Videography and Photographic Documentation, and more.

The Aviation Occupational Diver program is designed to train, certify, and re-certify for currency, qualified professional Occupational / Commercial Divers, with the knowledge and skills necessary to integrate as functional aircrew members with rotary-winged flight crews, for the purposes of providing Occupational / Commercial diver deployment capabilities via aircraft for occupational purposes.

The Aviation Rescue Diver program is designed to train, certify, and re-certify for currency, qualified Public Safety and Rescue Divers, with the knowledge and skills necessary to integrate as functional aircrew members with rotary-winged flight crews, for the purposes of providing PSD and Rescue Diver deployment capabilities via aircraft for PSD, rescue, MEDEVAC/CASEVAC, emergency, and disaster response purposes.

PDC is working toward developing a fully-recognized Commercial Diver Training Program to meet the needs for training, certification, and refresher capabilities in our region. In order to qualify as a recognized commercial diver training program, a minimum of 625 formal training hours are mandatory to meet Commercial Diver certification under the ANSI/ACDE standard. According to the standard, the minimum subjects must include:

1. General Program Requirements
2. Diving Physics*
3. Formula Application*
4. Air Decompression Tables and Decompression Procedures*
5. Anatomy and Physiology Related to Diving*
6. Diving Diseases, Injuries, and Psychological Aspects*
7. Treatment of Diver's Illnesses and Injuries*
8. First Aid for Divers and CPR*
9. Noxious Gases in Enclosed Spaces
10. Environmental Hazards of Diving
11. Hyperbaric Chamber and Associated Equipment
12. Trainee Participation in Chamber Operations
13. Seamanship and Rigging Fundamentals
14. Practical Application of Seamanship and Rigging
15. Lightweight Diving Equipment Function and Nomenclature
16. Lightweight Diving Procedures and Techniques
17. Maintenance of Diver's Umbilical
18. Underwater Work Using Lightweight Diving Equipment
19. Operations Planning
20. Diving Logs, Records, and Standards for Diving Operations
21. Underwater Tools
22. Drawings, Blueprint Reading, Report Writing
23. Hot Water Systems
24. Introduction to Topside Welding
25. Topside Welding Equipment
26. Oxygen-Acetylene Cutting Techniques
27. Practical Application of Oxygen-Acetylene Method of Cutting
28. Introduction to Underwater Cutting and Welding
29. Mixed-Gas Diving*
30. Marine Engines and Compressors
31. Industrial and Offshore Safety
32. Electives*

Items with an asterisk (*) may receive credit for prior learning and experience.

PDC has set the hour requirements to a minimum of 640 hours, equal to 80 days, or 16 weeks, of formal instruction.

• Offshore Diving – Diving outside the territorial waters of a country
• Civil Engineering Diving – Diving in support of civil engineering projects and public works projects
• Underwater Construction – Industrial construction in an underwater environment
• Salvage Diving – Diving work associated with the recovery of vehicles, cargo, lost items, and structures
• Ships Husbandry Diving – Diving related to the maintenance and upkeep of ships, including calls for aid
• Military Diving – Diving as a member of a uniformed service for defense purposes
• Public Safety Diving – Diving as a member of a public rescue or police service
• Search and Rescue/Recovery – Diving operations, either from land, boat, or aircraft insertion/extraction to rescue or recover persons involved in an accident, natural disaster, or emergency event.
• Remote Diving Operations – Diving requiring work in locations accessible only by specialized access or aircraft.
• Scientific Diving – Diving for the purpose of scientific study
• Occupational Media Production Diving – Diving to record images or video for scientific, industrial, or creative projects
• Hazmat Diving – Underwater diving in a known hazardous materials environment, including chemical and nuclear contaminated environments
• And many more.