Public Safety Diving Standards

All organizations, agencies or diving companies must comply, as a first step, with the government regulations of their country and add if permitted, all appropriate rules and procedures to control the safety of the dive operation.

The IDSSC recommends the application the minimum public safety diving standards to the North Carolina Public Safety Divers prepared with materials and information from the General Industry Standards, 29 CFR 1910, Subpart T—Commercial Diving Operations, and OSHA Instruction CPL 02-00-151 (U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration). This guide also contains information from sources such as U.S. Navy Diving Manual, National Association of Search and Rescue, California Department Fish and Game Diving Safety Manual, and the National Fire Protection Association, NFPA 1670—Standard on Operations and Technical Search and Rescue.
Through an existing alliance established between the N.C. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Division and the North Carolina Public Safety Divers’ Association (PSDA),

North Carolina PSD Standards.

OSHA Standards Training Requirements.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) also support the work of public safety divers through Diver, Tender, Dive Team Leader, Public Safety Dive Team standard and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). FEMA is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The agency’s primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities. The governor of the state in which the disaster occurs must declare a state of emergency and formally request from the President that FEMA and the federal government respond to the disaster.

Public Safety Diver

Public Safety Dive Tender

Public Safety Dive Team Leader

Public Safety Dive Team

National Incident Management System (NIMS)

The IDSSC maintains that public safety standards and procedures for diving must be regulated by the government. Additionally, public safety divers must be trained and certified by governments in order to carry out their risk function and have legal and health protection.
We also know very well that non-governmental certifying agencies work hard to perfect techniques and procedures and protect divers from public safety in a professional and humane way.