THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF UNDERWATER SCIENCES STANDARDS FOR SCIENTIFIC DIVING Revised February 2019 Campus: The University of Maine System / Safety Management Page 1 Document: Dive Safety Program – Standards for Scientific Diving Certification and Operation 0507420, 04/24/19 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page Forward ........................................................................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Adoption and Approval ............................................................................................................................... 4 Revision History ............................................................................................................................................ 6 1 General Policy ....................................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Scientific Diving Standards ......................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Operational Control ..................................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Consequence of Violation of Regulations by Scientific Divers ........................................... 11 1.4 Consequences of Violation of Regulations by Organizational Members ........................... 11 1.5 Record Maintenance ................................................................................................................... 11 2 Diving Regulations .............................................................................................................................. 13 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 13 2.2 Pre-Dive Procedures .................................................................................................................. 13 2.3 Diving Procedures ...................................................................................................................... 14 2.4 Post-Dive Procedures ................................................................................................................ 15 2.5 Emergency Procedures .............................................................................................................. 15 2.6 Flying After Diving or Ascending to Altitude (Over 1000 feet) ......................................... 15 2.7 Record Keeping Requirements ................................................................................................. 15 2.8 Boat Diving ................................................................................................................................. 16 3 Diving Equipment .............................................................................................................................. 17 3.1 General Policy ............................................................................................................................. 17 3.2 Equipment ................................................................................................................................... 17 3.3 Auxiliary Equipment .................................................................................................................. 18 3.4 Support Equipment .................................................................................................................... 19 3.5 Equipment Maintenance............................................................................................................ 19 3.6 Air Quality Standards ................................................................................................................. 20 4 Scientific Diver Training, Certification, and Authorization .......................................................... 21 4.1 Prerequisites................................................................................................................................. 21 4.2 Scientific Diver Training ............................................................................................................ 22 4.3 Scientific Diver Certification and Authorization ................................................................... 24 4.4 Depth Authorizations/ Ratings ................................................................................................ 26 4.5 Maintaining Active Status .......................................................................................................... 28 4.6 Revocation of Certification ....................................................................................................... 28 Campus: The University of Maine System / Safety Management Page 2 Document: Dive Safety Program – Standards for Scientific Diving Certification and Operation 0507420, 04/24/19 5 Medical Standards ............................................................................................................................... 29 5.1 General Requirements ..................................................................................................................... 29 5.2 Medical Evaluations/ Exams ......................................................................................................... 29 6 Nitrox Diving Guidelines .................................................................................................................. 31 6.1 Authorization and Training ....................................................................................................... 31 6.2 Minimum Activity to Maintain Authorization........................................................................ 32 6.3 Operational Requirements ........................................................................................................ 32 6.4 Nitrox Diving Equipment ......................................................................................................... 33 7 Surface Supplied Diving Technologies ............................................................................................ 34 7.1 Prerequisites................................................................................................................................. 34 7.2 Surface Supplied Diving (Umbilical)................................................................................................ 34 7.3 Hookah ......................................................................................................................................... 34 8 Staged Decompression Diving .......................................................................................................... 36 8.1 Minimum Experience and Training Requirements ............................................................... 36 8.2 Minimum Equipment Requirements ....................................................................................... 37 8.3 Minimum Operational Requirements ...................................................................................... 37 9 Mixed Gas Diving ............................................................................................................................... 38 9.1 Minimum Experience and Training Requirements ............................................................... 38 9.2 Equipment and Gas Quality Requirements ............................................................................ 39 9.3 Minimum Operational Requirements ...................................................................................... 39 10 Specialized Diving Environments ................................................................................................ 40 10.1 Blue Water Diving ...................................................................................................................... 40 10.2 Ice and Polar Diving .................................................................................................................. 40 10.3 Overhead Environments ........................................................................................................... 40 10.4 Saturation Diving ........................................................................................................................ 40 10.5 Aquarium Diving ........................................................................................................................ 40 11 Rebreathers ...................................................................................................................................... 41 12 Scientific Cave and Cavern Diving ............................................................................................... 42 Appendices ................................................................................................................................................... 43 Diving Medical Exam Overview for the Examining Physician ............................................................ 44 Medical Evaluation of Fitness for Scuba Diving Report ....................................................................... 45 Diving Medical History Form ................................................................................................................... 47