Canada – Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area Diving Operations Safety Transitional Regulations (SOR/2015-5)

Application

2 These Regulations apply to any diving operation conducted in the Newfoundland offshore area in connection with the exploration or drilling for, or the production, conservation, processing or transportation of, petroleum.

PART 1Proposed Diving Programs

Authorization

• 3 (1) A person may apply for an authorization under paragraph 138(1)(b) of the Act in respect of a proposed diving program by forwarding to the Chief Safety Officer an application, completed in triplicate, in the form fixed by the Board.

• (2) The authorization is, in addition to any other requirements of these Regulations, subject to the requirements that the operator and the diving contractor, if any, of the diving program must

  • (a) maintain the level of performance of the diving crew, diving plant and equipment and any craft or installation used in the diving program at or above the level of performance indicated in the application referred to in subsection (1) and accepted by the Chief Safety Officer, as the level of performance at which the diving program will be carried on;

  • (b) if the operator or the diving contractor, as the case may be, proposes to replace a supervisor or appoint an additional supervisor, provide the Chief Safety Officer with evidence that any replacement or additional supervisor meets the criteria set out in section 26, 28, 30 or 32 to supervise the category of dive the supervisor will be supervising; and

  • (c) if, in any area in which the diving program is being carried on, the environmental conditions, during any period, become more severe than the environmental conditions indicated in the application as being the most severe environmental conditions under which the diving program would be carried on, cease to carry on the diving program in that area during that period.

• (3) No authorization is to be given in respect of a proposed diving program unless the applicant provides the Chief Safety Officer with evidence

  • (a) that a diving safety specialist was consulted on all safety aspects of the diving program;

  • (b) that a diving safety specialist will be available on a 24-hour-a-day basis to advise any person involved in the diving program, including any person making decisions affecting the safety of divers involved in the diving program, on all safety aspects of the diving program;

  • (c) that any supervisor who will be involved in the diving program meets the criteria set out in section 26, 28, 30 or 32 to supervise the category of dive the supervisor will be supervising;

  • (d) that the services of a specialized diving doctor who is familiar with the diving procedures to be used in the diving operation that will form part of the diving program and who is within a travelling distance of the diving operation that is acceptable to the Chief Safety Officer will be available on a 24-hour-a-day basis to any person involved in the diving program;

  • (e) of any certificates issued by the manufacturer or a recognized body in respect of the diving plant and equipment to be used in the diving program; and

  • (f) if a diving program is to be conducted by a diving contractor who is not also the operator of the diving program, that the diving contractor is able to meet any liability for loss, damage, costs or expenses that may be incurred by the diving contractor as a result of the diving program.

• (4) No authorization is to be issued in respect of a proposed diving program unless approval has been granted by the Chief Safety Officer for the following:

  • (a) the procedures manual that contains the procedures to be followed in the diving program, including the procedures referred to in Schedule 1;

  • (b) schematic drawings showing the general arrangement of any diving plant and equipment to be used in the diving program and their location on board the craft or installation on which or from which they will be used;

  • (c) if a craft is to be used in the diving program and is to be maintained in position by a method referred to in subparagraph 11(2)(q)(iii), the method by which the craft is to be maintained in position;

  • (d) any use in the diving program of a craft in the dynamically positioned mode and the dynamically positioned diving operational capacity graph in respect of the craft;

  • (e) if a diving submersible is to be used in the diving program and is to be secured in a manner referred to in subparagraph 17(b)(iii), the manner in which the diving submersible is to be secured;

  • (f) any experimental equipment or technique to be used in the diving program; and

  • (g) the contingency plan to be followed in the diving program, including the emergency procedures referred to in Schedule 2 and the particulars of any additional evacuation, rescue and treatment facilities and devices to be used in the diving program.

• (5) No authorization is to be issued in respect of a proposed diving program unless a valid certificate of fitness is in force in respect of the diving plant and equipment to be used in the diving program and the certificate of fitness remaining valid and in force.

• 4 (1) The Chief Safety Officer is authorized to grant, in accordance with subsection (2), any approval prescribed in these Regulations and to make that approval subject to, in addition to the requirements prescribed in these Regulations, any terms and conditions that the Chief Safety Officer determines.

• (2) The Chief Safety Officer must provide a person with evidence of any approval granted to the person under subsection (1).

• (3) If the terms and conditions subject to ehich an approval was granted are not complied with, the Chief Safety Officer is authorized to suspend or revoke the approval, in which case the the Chief Safety Officer must give the person an opportunity to show cause why the approval should not have been suspended or revoked.

PART 2Operators

Duties

• 5 (1) The operator of a diving program must

  • (a) engage the services of a diving safety specialist who will be available as described in paragraph 3(3)(b) for the purpose described in that paragraph;

  • (b) make available a suitable place from which any diving operation that is part of the diving program may be conducted;

  • (c) to the extent practicable, give advance notice of any diving operation that is part of the diving program to the person in charge of any craft or installation in the vicinity of the operation;

  • (d) make available adequate forecasts of environmental conditions to the supervisor on duty at a diving operation

    • (i) before the diving operation begins, and

    • (ii) during the diving operation, at intervals of not more than 24 hours and at any time when the supervisor requests those forecasts;

  • (e) inform the supervisor on duty at a diving operation of any matter within the operator’s control that may affect the safety of the diving operation;

  • (f) provide an adequate and effective system of communication between the supervisor who is on duty and any person, other than the divers and pilots, involved in, or in a position to assist in, a diving operation including a winch or crane operator and a person on the bridge, on the rig floor or in the main control room of a craft or installation used in the diving operation;

  • (g) while a diving operation that is part of the diving program is in progress, prominently display notices to that effect

    • (i) in the case of any craft or installation used in the diving operation, on the bridge and in the engine room, and

    • (ii) in the case of any diving plant and equipment used in the diving operation, on any controls the operation of which might endanger a diver or pilot and on any controls for impressed current cathodic protection;

  • (h) display in the control room of a craft that will be operated in the dynamically positioned mode in a diving operation that is part of the diving program a copy of the dynamically positioned diving operational capacity graph in respect of the craft;

  • (i) in the event that a member of a diving crew involved in the diving program meets with an accident, notify the Chief Safety Officer or a safety officer of the accident by the most rapid and practical means and submit to the Chief Safety Officer or the safety officer a report of that accident in the form set out in Schedule 3;

  • (j) in the event of a serious illness affecting a member of a diving crew involved in the diving program or an incident in connection with the diving program, notify the Chief Safety Officer or a safety officer of the illness or incident as soon as possible, investigate the cause of the illness or incident and submit to the Chief Safety Officer or the safety officer a report of the illness or incident, including, in the case of an incident, a report in the form set out in Schedule 3;

  • (k) submit to the Chief Safety Officer a monthly report of all injuries to any member of a diving crew involved in a diving operation that is part of the diving program; and

  • (l) during the course of any diving operation that is part of the diving program, prominently display at the diving station for the diving operation a copy of the authorization given under paragraph 138(1)(b) of the Act for that diving program and evidence of any approval granted in relation to that authorization under section 4.

• (2) The operator of a diving program must not

  • (a) conduct any diving operation that is part of the diving program in the vicinity of any other activity that might pose a danger to any person involved in the diving operation;

  • (b) use, in a diving operation, any craft that has insufficient power or stability for the safe conduct of the diving operation; and

  • (c) prevent any diving contractor involved in the diving program from complying with any of the provisions of these Regulations.

Changes in Equipment and Procedures

• 6 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the operator of a diving program must

  • (a) immediately repair, replace or alter or arrange for the repair, replacement or alteration of any diving plant and equipment that are being used in the diving program and that are defective or become inadequate or unsafe;

  • (b) alter any procedure set out in the procedures manual for the diving program that becomes unsafe, inadequate or deficient; and

  • (c) when necessary, initiate a new procedure in respect of the diving program.

• (2) The operator of a diving program must obtain the approval of the Chief Safety Officer before doing any of the following under subsection (1) :

  • (a) repair, replace or alter or arrange for the repair, replacement or alteration of any diving plant and equipment referred to in paragraph (1)(a), other than a routine repair, replacement or alteration carried out by a competent person;

  • (b) alter a procedure set out in the procedures manual for the diving program; or

  • (c) initiate a new procedure in respect of the diving program.

Authorization

• 7 (1) An operator may apply for an authorization under subsection 151(1) of the Act to use equipment, methods, measures or standards that do not comply with these Regulations.

• (2) An application referred to in subsection (1) must set out the manner in which the equipment, methods, measures or standards that are the subject of the application provide a level of safety and protection of the environment and conservation at least equivalent to that which would be provided by compliance with these Regulations.

PART 3Diving Contractors

Duties

• 8 (1) Subject to subsection (2), a diving contractor must not conduct a diving operation unless the diving contractor has engaged the services of a diving safety specialist, other than the diving safety specialist engaged by the operator under paragraph 5(1)(a), who will be available as described in paragraph 3(3)(b) for the purpose described in that paragraph.

• (2) If the operator referred to in subsection 5(1) and the diving contractor referred to in subsection (1) are the same person, the diving safety specialist engaged under subsection (1) may be the same person as the diving safety specialist engaged under paragraph 5(1)(a).

• (3) A diving contractor must not conduct a diving operation that includes

  • (a) a category I dive unless the diving contractor has appointed in writing a person who meets the criteria set out in section 26, 28 or 30 to supervise the diving operation and such a supervisor is present at all times during the diving operation;

  • (b) a category II dive unless the diving contractor has appointed in writing a person who meets the criteria set out in section 28 or 30 to supervise the diving operation and such a supervisor is present at all times during the diving operation;

  • (c) a category III dive unless the diving contractor has appointed in writing a person who meets the criteria set out in section 30 to supervise the diving operation and such a supervisor is present at all times during the diving operation; and

  • (d) the use of an ADS unless the diving contractor has appointed in writing a person who meets the criteria set out in section 32 to supervise the diving operation and such a supervisor is present at all times during the diving operation.

• (4) A diving contractor must not, in a diving operation conducted by the diving contractor, employ a person

  • (a) to make a category I dive unless the person meets the criteria set out in section 52, 54 or 56;

  • (b) to make a category II dive unless the person meets the criteria set out in section 54 or 56;

  • (c) to make a category III dive unless the person meets the criteria set out in section 56; or

  • (d) to pilot an ADS unless the person meets the criteria set out in section 63.

• (5) A diving contractor who conducts a diving operation that is part of a diving program must

  • (a) ensure that every diving supervisor employed by the diving contractor in the diving program on a full-time basis has the opportunity to supervise each year a minimum of 12 dives appropriate to the category of dive for which the supervisor is certified;

  • (b) ensure that every ADS supervisor employed by the diving contractor in the diving program on a full-time basis has the opportunity to supervise each year a minimum of six ADS dives;

  • (c) ensure that every diver employed by the diving contractor in the diving program on a full-time basis has the opportunity to make each year a minimum of 24 dives, totalling a minimum of 20 hours of bottom time, appropriate to the category of dive for which the diver is certified;

  • (d) ensure that every pilot employed by the diving contractor in the diving program on a full-time basis has the opportunity to make each year at least four ADS dives totalling a minimum of 16 hours of bottom time;

  • (e) ensure that, except in the case of an emergency, each member of a diving crew involved in the diving operation, in every 24-hour period,

    • (i) has a rest period of not less than eight consecutive hours, and

    • (ii) is required to work not more than 12 hours;

  • (f) follow the procedures set out in the procedures manual for the diving program and any altered or newly initiated procedures referred to in section 6 for the diving program;

  • (g) maintain, at the craft or installation from which the diving operation is conducted, two copies of these Regulations and a copy of the applicable procedures manual and make them available to any person involved or to be involved in the diving operation and, on request, to the Chief Safety Officer or a safety officer;

  • (h) provide or arrange for the provision of any diving plant and equipment necessary for the safe conduct of the diving operation, including

    • (i) adequate fire-fighting equipment, and

    • (ii) a two-compartment compression chamber that

      • (A) has been approved for the diving program, in accordance with section 4, for use at a pressure that is not less than six atmospheres absolute or, where the maximum working pressure that may be encountered during any dive that is part of the diving operation is greater than six atmospheres absolute, for use at the maximum pressure plus one atmosphere,

      • (B) is suitable for the diving operation, and

      • (C) is located in a readily accessible place on board the craft or installation from which the diving operation is conducted or, if the diving operation is conducted at a depth of 10 m or less and the supervisor approves, within one hour’s travelling time from the dive site;

  • (i) use only diving plant and equipment that are of sound construction, adequate strength, free from patent defects and in good working order;

  • (j) provide for the protection of the diving plant and equipment used in the diving operation from malfunction in the environmental conditions under which the diving plant and equipment are to be used, including conditions of low or high temperatures;

  • (k) permit only the repair, replacement and alteration of diving plant and equipment used in the diving operation that have been approved under subsection 6(2) and ensure that routine repair, replacement or alteration is carried out by a competent person;

  • (l) provide adequate illumination of the dive site and the underwater work site of the diving operation

    • (i) during any period of darkness or low visibility, and

    • (ii) when the supervisor requests the illumination and when the nature of the diving operation so permits;

  • (m) provide a diving operations logbook that is permanently bound and has numbered pages;

  • (n) retain any diving operations logbook referred to in paragraph (m) that is delivered to the diving contractor by a supervisor under subsection 49(4), and any records or copies delivered to the diving contractor by a supervisor under subsection 51(3), for a period of not less than two years after the day on which the last entry is made in it; and

  • (o) produce, on request, any logbooks, records or copies referred to in paragraph (n) for inspection by the Chief Safety Officer or a safety officer.

• (6) If continuance of a diving operation would compromise or is likely to compromise the health, well-being or safety of any person involved in the diving operation, the diving contractor who conducts the diving operation must immediately interrupt or discontinue the diving operation.