6-38 Change A
U.S. Navy Diving Manual—Volume 2
6-10
OSHA REQUIREMENTS FOR U.S. NAVY CIVILIAN DIVING
U.S. Navy Civilian Divers are governed by the provisions of the U.S. Navy Diving
Program, yet they must also comply with U.S. Government Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA) diving standards, delineated in 29 CFR Part
1910 Subpart T; Subj: Commercial Diving Operations. U.S. Navy Civilian Divers
are identified as all permanent Navy employees who have been formally trained at
an approved U.S. Navy diving school as either a scuba diver, Second Class diver,
or First Class diver. Commercial divers contracted by the Navy who are not
permanent government employees are not subject to these provisions.
Most directives of the U.S. Navy Diving Program provide parallel requirements,
or are similar enough not to be considered of substantive difference. Several
requirements of OSHA do, however, exceed those delineated for U.S. Navy divers
and must be identified to ensure compliance by USN civilian divers to both stan-
dards. Therefore, the following restrictions, in addition to all other requirements
addressed in this manual, apply to USN civilian divers:
6-10.1
Scuba Diving (Air) Restriction.
1. Scuba diving shall not be conducted:
!
To depths deeper than 130 fsw
!
To depths deeper than 100 fsw unless a recompression chamber is on station
2. All scuba cylinder manifolds shall be equipped with a manual reserve (J
valve), or an independent reserve cylinder gas supply with a separate
regulator.
3. A scuba cylinder submersible pressure gauge shall be worn by each diver.
6-10.2
Surface Supplied Air Diving Restrictions.
1. Surface supplied air diving shall not be conducted to depths greater than 190
fsw.
2. Dives shall be limited to in-water decompression times of less than 120
minutes.
3. An emergency gas supply (come-home bottle) is required for any dive greater
than 60 fsw planned decompression dives or for which direct access to the sur-
face is not available.
6-10.3
Mixed Gas Diving Restrictions. All mixed gas diving shall be limited to:
!
A maximum depth of 220 fsw
!
Less than 120 minutes total in-water decompression time
!
Having a recompression chamber on station
