Diving supervisor

The diving supervisor is the professional diving team member who is directly responsible for the diving operation's safety and the management of any incidents or accidents that may occur during the operation; the supervisor is required to be available at the control point of the diving operation for the diving operation's duration. Details of requirements and qualifications may differ depending on jurisdiction and relevant codes of practice.

The control point is the place where the supervisor can best monitor the status of the diver and progress of the dive. For Scuba dives this is commonly on deck of the dive boat where there is a good view of the surface above the operational area, or on the shore at a nearby point where the divers can be seen when surfaced. For surface supplied diving, the view of the water is usually still necessary, and a view of the line tenders handling the umbilicals is also required, unless there is live video feed from the divers and two-way audio communications with the tenders. The control position also includes the gas panel and communications panel, so the supervisor can remain as fully informed as practicable of the status of the divers and their life support systems during the dive. For bell diving and saturation diving the situation is a bit more complex and the control position may well be inside a compartment where the communications, control and monitoring equipment for the bell and life-support systems are set up.

Responsibilities of the diving supervisor

The diving supervisor is the person legally responsible for the health and safety of the personnel engaged in a professional diving operation.

The supervisor is appointed for a specific operation by the diving contractor, and has the following responsibilities during that operation:

• to ensure that the planned operation is carried out as far as it is reasonably practicable—
  • without unacceptable risk to the health and safety of all those taking part in that operation and of any other person who may be affected by the operation;
  • in accordance with the relevant requirements and prohibitions of any relevant laws or regulations; and
  • in accordance with the diving project plan.
• to ensure before starting the operation that everyone taking part is aware of requirements of the diving project plan which relate to that operation and that person;
• to record the relevant details of the operation;
• to maintain a personal logbook of supervision of diving operations;
• to ensure that the details of any recompression therapy are recorded in the logbook of the diver; and
• to be available throughout the diving operation to deal with any emergencies related to that operation.

Training and qualifications

A candidate for training as a diving supervisor is generally selected from the divers employed by a contractor, as a competent diver of the class for which he or she will be trained to supervise, and a reliable person, suitable for taking the responsibility for the health and safety of the diving team and capable od managing the logistics of a diving operation. Training as a diving supervisor is generally carried out by commercial diver trainibg schools, which are usually registered as training providers by a national or international quality assurance body or government department, such as the Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme (ADAS) in Australia, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the UK and the Department of Labour in South Africa. The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) also registers diving supervisors for offshore work.

Several classes of diving supervisor are recognized, associated with the various classes of commercial and other professional divers, and these can be roughly categorized as scuba supervisors, surface supplied air supervisors, surface orientated mixed gas supervisors and saturation diving supervisors.