Diving Regulations, 2001
1. Definitions

 

 

In these Regulations, any word or expression to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act shall have the meaning so assigned and, unless the context otherwise indicates -

 

"air"

includes normal compressed air;

 

"approved inspection authority"

means an inspection authority approved by the chief inspector for the verification, surveillance and certification of the design, manufacture, testing, inspection and repair of compression chambers and bells;

 

"bail-out system"

means an independent supply of the appropriate breathing mixture carried and activated by the diver, which is of sufficient capacity to allow the diver to reach a place of safety in emergency situations;

 

"bell"

means a compartment, either at ambient pressure (open bell) or pressurised (closed bell), by means of which a diver can be transported to and from the underwater work site, which allows the diver access to the surrounding environment and which is capable of being used as a refuge during diving operations;

 

"bottom time"

means the time in minutes which elapses from the time when the diver dives from the surface of the water towards the underwater working place until such time as he or she commences his or her ascent from the underwater working place towards the surface of the water

 

"breathing mixture"

means air or gas which is safe for breathing at ambient pressure;

 

"buddy line"

means a line not exceeding five metres in length, which has a breaking strength of at least five hundred Newton and which is used for securely connecting two divers to each other during a dive;

 

"Class I saturation diver I'

means a class II surface-supplied mixed gas diver who has been trained in all aspects of mixed gas, saturation and bell diving to a depth of at least one hundred metres;

 

"class II surface-supplied mixed gas diver"

means a class II surface-supplied air diver trained in all aspects of mixed gas diving using surface-supplied diving equipment with open bell and diving stage, limited by decompression tables utilised (non-saturation dive), to depths not exceeding seventy metres;

 

"class II surface-supplied air diver"

means a class 111 surface-supplied air diver trained in all aspects of air diving using scuba and surface-supplied diving equipment, wet bell, stage and surface decompression procedures to a depth not exceeding five metres;

 

"class III surface-supplied nitrox diver"

means a class Ill surface-supplied air diver trained in all aspects of nitrox diving using surface-supplied diving equipment to a depth not exceeding thirty metres, without the use of a surface compression chamber;

 

"class Ill surface-supplied air diver''

means a class IV scuba air diver trained in all aspects of air diving using scuba and surface-supplied diving equipment to a depth not exceeding thirty metres, without the use of a surface compression chamber;

 

"class IV scuba nitrox diver"

means a class IV scuba air diver trained in all aspects of nitrox diving using scuba to a depth not exceeding thirty metres, without the use of a surface compression chamber;

 

"class IV scuba air diver"

means a class IV scuba air diver trained in all aspects of air diving using scuba to a depth not exceeding thirty metres, without the use of a surface compression chamber

 

"compression chamber"

means a pressure vessel for human occupation having internal dimensions sufficient to accommodate at least one diver lying in a horizontal position as well as one other person, and which allows the ingress and egress of personnel while the occupants are under pressure;

 

"compression chamber dive"

means the simulation of an actual dive to specific depths by using a compression chamber;

 

"Council"

means the Council for Diving established in terms of regulation 1 I of these Regulations;

 

"decompression stop"

means a pause, calculated with the aid of decompression tables, which must be observed at a specific depth below the surface of the water during a diver's ascent from the underwater working place, in order to release excess nitrogen or other inert gases absorbed by his or her body, and for a compression chamber dive it has a corresponding meaning;

 

"designated medical practitioner"

means a registered medical practitioner designated in terms of regulation 4 of these Regulations to establish whether divers are fit to dive;

 

"dive"

means every dive performed by divers from the control point on the surface of the water to any point under the surface of the water and back to the control point;

 

"diver"

means any person registered as a diver in accordance with the provisions of regulation 14 of these Regulations and includes a diving supervisor;

 

"diver's logbook''

means the logbook in the form set out in Annexure A to these Regulations;

 

"diving apparatus"

means any type of diving equipment that can assist a person to take part in any diving operation, which excludes snorkel type apparatus;

 

"diving mode"

means a dive requiring scuba air, scuba nitrox, surface-supplied air, surface-supplied mixed gas or saturation diving apparatus, with related procedures and techniques;

 

"diving operation"

means all activities of a diving team in preparation for, during and after a dive;

 

"diving operations record"

means the record contemplated in Annexure 8 to these Regulations;

 

"diving stage"

means a suspended platform designed to carry one or more divers and used for lowering divers into the water and bringing them to the surface when underwater decompression is undertaken or standard diving dress is used;

 

"diving supervisor"

means any person registered as a diving supervisor in terms of regulation 15 of these Regulations;

 

"diving team"

means the divers, standby divers, and diver support personnel involved in a diving operation, including the diving supervisor, line attendant, life-support technician and such other persons as are necessary to man any machinery and equipment which may be required before, during and after a dive;

 

"diving time"

means the time in minutes which elapses from the time when a diver dives from the surface of the water until he or she is again exposed to atmospheric pressure after a dive and includes all decompression stops;

 

"gas"

means any pure gas or mixture of gases, other than air, suitable for underwater breathing;

 

"hookah"

means diving equipment comprising of an air supply, air line, diver safety harness, demand regulator or full face mask which may be used only by scientific, archaeological and shellfish divers, limited to a maximum depth of fifteen metres;

 

"in-date diver"

means a learner diver or diver who is the holder of a valid medical certificate of fitness certifying that he or she is fit to dive, and whom, subsequent to the date of issue thereof and with intervals of not more than six months, has successfully participated in an in-water diving operation of not less than half an hour duration;

 

"learner diver"

means any person registered as a learner diver in terms of regulation 13 of these Regulations;

 

"life-support technician"

means a person trained in the physics, physiology, medical and technical aspects of supporting life in high-pressure environments;

 

"line attendant"

means a person who has been trained in the use of diving signals, and life-lines, and were required service telephone and other cables;

 

"medical certificate of fitness"

means a certificate issued by a designated medical practitioner in terms of regulation 4 of these Regulations

 

"medical examination"

means a medical examination of a diver or a learner diver conducted by a designated medical practitioner;

 

"nitrox"

means a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen where the percentage of oxygen in the mixture is greater than that of normal air and does not exceed a partial pressure of 1.6 atmospheres absolute of oxygen at any given time;

 

"provincial director''

means the provincial director as defined in regulation 1 of the General Administrative Regulations published under Government Notice No.R.1449 of 6 September 1996;

 

"SANOP96A"

means the South African Naval Operational Publication number 96A;

 

"saturation dive"

means a dive executed by a diver whose tissues are saturated with the inert gas in the breathing mixture so as to allow an extension of bottom time without additional decompression;

 

"scuba"

means self-contained underwater breathing apparatus in which the supply of breathing mixture carried by the diver is independent of any other source;

 

"shot line"

means a line of at least fifteen millimetres in diameter, one end of which is fastened at the control point on the surface of the water and which extends to the underwater working place where the other end is fastened or anchored and along which the diver must dive to the underwater working place and again return to the surface of the water;

 

"standard diving dress"

means a heavyweight surface-supplied diving outfit for deep diving;

 

"standby diver"

means an indate diver, other than a learner diver, who is fully qualified and prepared to dive immediately to the maximum depth required by the particular diving operation with the aid of the diving equipment in use, and who is not prevented from diving by an excess of inert gas in his or her system;

 

"surface control panel"

means a panel used to control diving operations which supplies and indicates by separate pressure gauges the independent primary and secondary gas supplies;

 

"surface-supplied diving equipment"

means diving equipment which includes a bail-out system, a full body diver safety harness, an underwater voice communication system, a surface control panel, an umbilical cord and a full-face mask or helmet in which the supply of suitable breathing mixture is dependant on a continuous supply from the surface of the water;

 

"the Act"

means the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993);

 

"umbilical cord"

means a life support line, comprising of a gas supply, pneumofathom meter, and communicator's cable which has a strength equivalent to or greater than that of a life line;

 

"under water voice communication system"

means an under water voice communication system that must allow the diver direct voice contact with the supervisor on the surface and vice versa;

 

"warning signal"

means, by day, flag A as defined in the International Code of Signals and by night, the lights as defined in the International Regulations for Preventing Coltision at Sea, 1983.