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Part 24 — Diving, Fishing and Other Marine Operations
"altitude diving" means any dive performed over 300 m (1 000 ft) above sea level;
"atmospheric diving system (ADS)" means a diving system capable of withstanding external pressures greater than atmospheric pressure, and in which the internal pressure remains at one atmosphere, and includes a one person submarine and a one atmosphere compartment of a diving submersible;
"atmospheric pressure" means pressure at the surface of the water, normally considered to be 101.3 kPa (14.7 psi);
"bailout bottle" means an independent breathing gas supply carried by the diver, of sufficient quantity to return the diver to the surface, bell or emergency supply in the event of a malfunction of the primary breathing gas supply;
"bottom time" means the total elapsed time, rounded to the next whole minute, from the time the diver leaves the surface to the time the diver begins final ascent;
"chamber operator" means a person who has demonstrated capability in operating the controls of a recompression chamber and is knowledgeable and competent in diving tables and the application of treatment tables;
"construction diving" means any diving operation that involves burning, welding, erection, alteration, dismantling, demolition, structural maintenance and inspection, excavating, salvage, boring, blasting, concreting and the installation of any machinery or equipment;
"contaminated environment" means a workplace that contains or may contain chemical, biological or radiological material in sufficient concentration that, should any quantity of it be ingested, absorbed, adsorbed or inhaled, will likely endanger the health or safety of the worker;
"contamination reduction zone" means the area used to dress and undress divers, transfer workers from the exclusion zone, and decontaminate personnel and equipment;
"crewmember" for the purposes of sections 24.69 to 24.143, means any person who is working on a fishing vessel;
"decompression illness" means a dysfunction caused by exposure to a reduction in pressure resulting in the production of bubbles in the body;
"deep diving" means any diving operation to depths greater than 50 m (165 ft);
"dive profile" means a logged schedule of the diver's activities during any diving operation, which includes the time the surface was left, depth, decompression, repetitive dives and other information concerning the diving operations;
"dive site" means any location where a diving operation takes place including a boat, scow, float, raft or platform which is seaworthy, secure, and of sufficient size to safely accommodate all workers and equipment without overcrowding;
"diver's harness" means a harness, fitted with a positive buckling device and an attachment point for a lifeline, that will prevent any strain on the diver's mask, helmet and umbilical, that is worn by the diver and is strong enough to lift the diver from the water in an emergency;
"diver's tender" means a worker who is competent and knowledgeable in the diving apparatus being used, the diving operation in progress, emergency diving procedures and communications between diver and tender;
"diving supervisor" means a person having complete and direct responsibility for the diving operation who is knowledgeable and competent with the diving equipment, the diving operations in progress, emergency diving procedures, diving physics and physiology and medical aspects of diving;
"emergency breathing supply" means the bailout bottle carried by the diver and may include the high pressure breathing medium bottle carried on the diving stage;
"exclusion zone" means the workplace at the surface from which divers are tended during a contaminated diving operation;
"fish" means any species of animal living in water, including its eggs or roe;
"fishing vessel" means any commercial vessel used in catching fish or collecting or transporting fish for landing;
"lifejacket" means a device that,
(a) when worn correctly, provides a specified buoyancy that will turn the wearer face-up on entering the water, and will keep the wearer in this position, and
(b) is of a type of lifejacket that has the approval, and bears a mark or label indicating that approval, set out in section 7 (1) and (2) of the Small Vessel Regulations (Canada);
"lifeline" means a rope of 16 mm (5/8 in) in diameter, of polypropylene or other synthetic fibre of at least equal strength, which is secured to the diver and to a permanent fixture at the surface;
"live boating" means the support of a surface supplied diver from a vessel under way;
"lock-out submersible (or LOS)" means a self-propelled submersible fitted with a submersible compression chamber from which a diving operation can be carried out and that has a separate one atmosphere chamber from which the submersible is operated;
"master" for the purposes of sections 24.69 to 24.143, means the person in overall command of a fishing vessel;
"medical recompression" means treatment of a diver in a compressed air environment, in a recompression chamber, in accordance with established practice or medical direction, to alleviate symptoms resulting from a previous decompression;
"mixed gas" means a mixture of breathable gases other than atmospheric air;
"no decompression limit" means that in accordance with the diving table in use for the depth and duration of the dive, no decompression stop is required;
"owner" for the purposes of sections 24.69 to 24.143, means the person who holds legal title to a fishing vessel and also includes a charterer of a fishing vessel;
"personal flotation device (PFD)" means a device that,
(a) when worn correctly, provides a specified buoyancy to support a conscious person in an upright or backward leaning position, but is not designed to turn a person from a face-down to a face-up position in the water, and
(b) is of a type of personal flotation device that has the approval, and bears a mark or label indicating that approval, set out in section 7 of the Small Vessel Regulations (Canada);
"recompression chamber" means a system consisting of one or more pressure vessels for human occupancy, with associated utilities, controls and instrumentation, whose purpose is to support diving operations, hyperbaric treatment, dive simulation and/or scientific study and equipment testing;
"reserve breathing supply" means a secondary supply, other than the bailout bottle, of a breathing medium of the appropriate mixture and of sufficient quantity to enable the diver to return safely to the surface with all appropriate decompression stops;
"scuba" means self-contained underwater breathing apparatus;
"stage" means a suspended work platform such as a cage, basket or platform in which 2 divers may be lowered to or raised from an underwater worksite;
"submersible compression chamber (or SCC)" means a chamber that is intended to be submerged and that is designed to transport a person at atmospheric pressure or divers at pressures greater than atmospheric pressure from the surface to an underwater work site and back and includes the compression chamber of a diving submersible;
"support zone" means the workplace used in support of the diving operations and where the cleaning and/or disposal of diving equipment may take place;
"surface supply diving" means supplying air or a mixture of gases to a diver through a hose from the surface;
"umbilical bundle" means a combination of hoses and cable, including a lifeline or strength member attached in a manner to prevent stress on the diver's hose, which is capable of supplying a breathing mixture or other services as required such as power, heat, cooling, communications and depth (kluge) indicating hose;
"working alone" means working in circumstances where assistance would not be readily available to a crewmember if the crewmember fell overboard.
[am. B.C. Reg. 14/2019, App. E, ss. 2 and 3.]
Wharves, Docks and Mooring Floats
24.2 Fixed ladders must be provided at every dock for access to and egress from the water, and must
(a) be spaced at intervals not exceeding 30 m (100 ft),
(b) extend from the top of the dock to at least 1 m (3.3 ft) below the lowest water level,
(c) be maintained free of barnacles and marine growth, and
(d) have their location identified by high visibility paint on the curb or bullrail.
Lifesaving equipment
24.3 (1) Appropriate lifesaving equipment must
(a) be provided and maintained for the rescue of any worker in danger of drowning, and
(b) be positioned at intervals not exceeding 50 m (165 ft) in conspicuous locations as near as practicable to the danger area.
(2) Throwing lines fitted to lifebuoys or similar equipment must be of suitable size and length and made of buoyant material.
(3) For the purposes of this section, lifesaving equipment includes lifebuoys, throwing bags, grapples, boat hooks or other equipment appropriate to the circumstances.
Curbs, bullrails, guardrails and barriers
24.4 (1) A curb or bullrail must be installed along the open sides of each float, dock, wharf, pier and similar other area where mobile equipment might be used.
(2) Each curb and bullrail must be of substantial construction and be at least 25 cm (10 in) high.
(3) Where practicable, guardrails meeting the requirements of Part 4 (General Conditions) must be installed at
(a) dangerous breaks in the continuity of a wharf, dock or pier, and
(b) dangerous corners, edges and other parts of a wharf, dock or pier.
(4) Moveable warning barriers may be used where the use of standard guardrails is impracticable.
(5) Effective warning barriers must be installed across the entrances of barge and ship loading ramps when the ramps are not in use.
[am. B.C. Reg. 185/99, s. 70.]
24.5 (1) Where circumstances require, curbs, bullrails, guardrails and barriers must be painted solid yellow, yellow and black stripes or checkers, or yellow against a suitable contrasting background.
(2) Retroreflective paint or patches must be applied to curbs, bullrails, guardrails and barriers where mobile equipment is operated at night.
Rescue boat
24.6 A suitable boat must be provided and kept ready for immediate use when workers are employed in situations where a boat is necessary for rescue or evacuation.
Diving Operations
24.7 Sections 24.7 to 24.68 apply to all persons involved in any occupational diving operation.
24.8 Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 312/2003, App. G, s. 3.]
24.9 (1) The employer must submit a notice of project for diving activity, or notify the Board by telephone, at least 24 hours before commencing a diving operation which involves
(a) construction diving,
(b) engineering inspection diving,
(c) diving in a contaminated environment,
(d) diving under ice, under or between nets, or into other areas of potential entrapment,
(e) exceeding the no-decompression limit, or
(f) the use of mixed gas other than nitrox as a breathing medium.
(2) The notice of project must indicate the date, the location, the diving equipment to be used and the scope of the diving operation.
(3) Before diving commences, a copy of the notice of project must be posted at the worksite, or if notification is provided by telephone, a written summary of that notification that contains the information required by subsection (2) must be posted at the worksite.
(4) If in an emergency it is not practicable to notify the Board prior to the start of a diving operation, the Board must be notified as soon as possible, but no later than 24 hours after the diving operation has begun.
[am. B.C. Reg. 253/2001, s. 18.]
24.10 (1) The employer must ensure that each diver has current medical certification, from a physician knowledgeable and competent in diving medicine, before commencing diving operations.
(2) A diver's medical certification must be
(a) established prior to entry into any commercial diving activity,
(b) renewed every 2 years up to age 39 and annually from age 40 onwards,
(c) renewed more frequently than required by paragraph (b) if clinically indicated, and
(d) re-evaluated by a physician knowledgeable and competent in diving medicine if the diver is subjected to an event or has a physical condition which may affect the diver's medical status.
(3) A copy of each diver's medical certification must be kept at the dive site.
Diver's fitness
24.11 (1) A diver must not dive if, in the opinion of the diving supervisor, the diver is incapable of functioning safely underwater.
(2) A diver must be medically re-examined, as required by the diving supervisor, to ensure that the diver is fit to dive.
(3) Divers, standby divers and divers' tenders must not participate in any diving operation if they are physically or emotionally fatigued or if they have consumed drugs or alcohol which would impair their ability to work safely.
24.12 (1) A diver must not dive unless the diver has been thoroughly trained in the theory and use of the diving apparatus that the diver will be using.
(2) The training required by subsection (1) must be provided by a person or agency acceptable to the Board.
(3) All divers, diving supervisors and divers' tenders must be trained in CPR, oxygen (O2) therapy, and diving accident management.
Evidence of competency
24.13 (1) The employer and diving supervisor must ensure that all divers
(a) meet the minimum requirements of CSA Standard Z275.4-97 Competency Standard for Diving Operations, and
(b) are competent to use the diving equipment that will be used in the diving operation.
(2) A certified copy of competency documents for each diver must be available for inspection on site by an officer.
[am. B.C. Reg. 312/2003, App. A, s. 4.]
Diving logs
24.14 (1) Each diver must have, and keep for 2 years after the last entry, a personal log containing a record of all
(a) dives carried out, and
(b) medical recompressions and other exposures to a compressed air/mixed gas environment.
(2) The records in a diver's personal log must be in chronological order and each dive must be verified and initialled by the diving supervisor.
(3) The records for each dive must include
(a) the type of diving apparatus used and the gas medium breathed,
(b) the times the diver left the surface, reached and left the bottom, and returned to the surface,
(c) the maximum depth attained,
(d) the surface interval, if a repetitive dive,
(e) the decompression tables that were used,
(f) the date the dive was undertaken, and
(g) remarks (such as name of employer, unusual incidents).
(4) The diving supervisor must keep a separate log of the diving operation containing the information required by subsection (3).
(5) The diving supervisor's log must be filed with the employer upon completion of the operation.
(6) All current logs must be available at the dive site for inspection by an officer.
Dive site equipment
24.15 When diving is in progress, the dive site must be provided with
(a) a current list of facilities with hyperbaric chambers capable of providing emergency treatment,
(b) the locations and phone numbers of the nearest hospital and available emergency assistance,
(c) if the no-decompression limit is to be exceeded, a 16 mm (5/8 in) synthetic line, marked at appropriate intervals for decompression stops, weighted and of sufficient length to reach the maximum depth for the dive,
(d) a first aid kit and an oxygen (O2) therapy unit with sufficient capacity to reach emergency medical services,
(e) one complete set of acceptable dive tables and one copy of this Regulation,
(f) an appropriate means for entering and leaving the water, including a means for rescuing an incapacitated diver,
(g) equipment to provide voice communication with emergency services personnel, and
(h) other equipment as may be required by the Board.
24.16 Divers tended on a lifeline must wear a suitable diver's harness and lifelines must be
(a) securely fastened to the diver's harness, but not attached to the diver's weight belt,
(b) free of knots and splices,
(c) secured to a permanent fixture at the surface, and
(d) tended at all times by a diver's tender.
Safe diving procedures
24.17 (1) Every employer engaged in diving operations must prepare and publish a set of safe diving procedures which include
(a) safe procedures and health requirements for each type of diving in which workers may be involved,
(b) all the procedures to meet the applicable requirements of this Regulation, and
(c) emergency, evacuation, and rescue procedures.
(2) The safe diving procedures must be kept at the dive site, readily available to all workers, and available for inspection by an officer.
Diving supervisor's worksite duties
24.18 (1) Each diving operation must be directed by a diving supervisor whose duties include
(a) evaluating the hazards,
(b) planning the dive,
(c) briefing the crew,
(d) ensuring that all needed equipment is available and in good working condition, and
(e) controlling the entire diving operation.
(f) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 312/2003, App. G, s. 4 (c).]
(2) The diving supervisor must prepare a detailed plan of the diving operations which must be given to the worksite employer before diving commences.
(3) The diving supervisor must
(a) remain in the dive area during diving operations,
(b) delegate the supervisory responsibilities to another diving supervisor, if required to enter the water, and
(c) suspend diving operations if conditions become unsafe.
[am. B.C. Reg. 312/2003, App. G, s. 4.]
Crew briefing
24.19 Immediately before each dive, the diving supervisor must brief all persons involved in the diving operations about
(a) the hazards which may be encountered during the dive,
(b) the intended duration of the dive and the maximum depth to be reached,
(c) decompression procedures to be followed,
(d) the location of other divers,
(e) the work to be done,
(f) specific recall signals, and
(g) emergency procedures to be followed.
Diver's responsibilities
24.20 (1) Each diver must satisfy the diving supervisor that the diver fully understands the signals and procedures in use.
(2) Except in the case of accidental or unavoidable circumstances, a diver must not remain or be permitted to remain at any depth longer than the maximum time planned for that dive.
(3) In any diving operation the diver must inform the tender or diving partner and must proceed to the surface under any of the following conditions:
(a) if any malfunction in diving gear occurs;
(b) on receipt of any signal which cannot be understood;
(c) at the onset of any symptoms of physical or psychological distress;
(d) on receipt of a recall signal;
(e) when the main air supply is near depletion;
(f) if the emergency apparatus/air supply is being used;
(g) in the event of excessive leakage to a dry type of diving suit which may affect the diver's buoyancy.
Diving tables
24.21 (1) Diving operations, repetitive dives, and treatment of divers, must be carried out in strict accordance with tables and procedures published or approved by the Defence and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine (Canada).
(2) Sport diving tables must not be used.
(3) Diving computers must not be used in place of primary diving tables.
[am. B.C. Reg. 312/2003, App. A, s. 5; 14/2019, App. F, s. 3.]
Decompression procedures
24.22 (1) During diving operations which require decompression, a reserve breathing supply with sufficient reserve to bring divers to the surface with appropriate decompression stops must be available and ready for immediate use.
(2) Whenever planned dives will exceed the no-decompression limit
(a) the divers must be equipped with a bailout bottle containing a minimum 1.4 m3 (50 ft3) of breathing medium,
(b) an approved double lock hyperbaric chamber in operable condition with overriding outside controls and appropriate air facilities must be located so that travel time by available transport will not exceed 30 minutes,
(c) if the planned decompression time will exceed 15 minutes the hyperbaric chamber must be on the dive site, and
(d) a chamber operator must be available on the surface at the dive site or at the hyperbaric chamber.
(3) A dive must not exceed the no-decompression limit if the hyperbaric chamber is occupied.
Diver care and transportation
24.23 (1) The diving supervisor must ensure that on completion of decompression, the diver remains under observation in the general area of the hyperbaric chamber for a period of time to ensure the well-being of the diver.
(2) If a diver shows signs of pressure related illness or requires therapeutic recompression, the diving supervisor must ensure that treatment is initiated immediately and a physician knowledgeable in hyperbaric medicine is notified.
(3) If it is necessary to transport a diver suffering a diving ailment by air, provision must be made to furnish the patient with oxygen and the flight altitude must be prescribed by the attending physician or the diving supervisor.
Medical alert tag
24.24 A diver must wear a medical alert tag or bracelet stating the diver's status and indicating the possibility of decompression sickness or other diving illness, for at least 24 hours after completion of diving.
24.25 Hyperbaric chambers must conform to standards acceptable to the Board and must be provided with
(a) a means of extinguishing a fire,
(b) an oxygen monitoring device,
(c) an oxygen delivery system with a built-in breathing system (BIBS), and
(d) an adequate supply of air, including an emergency reserve supply to complete any decompression and treatment procedures.
Breathing mediums
24.26 (1) If air is used as the respirable medium in diving operations it must meet the requirements of CSA Standard CAN/CSA-Z275.2-92, Occupational Safety Code for Diving Operations, with the exception of the water vapour standard.
(2) The air supplied by compressors for breathing air in diving operations must be tested at least annually to ensure that it meets the requirements of subsection (1).
(3) If mixed gases in other than the normal proportions of respirable air are used for breathing by divers, the diving supervisor must ensure that
(a) the diving procedures and schedules of work, and decompression are in accordance with the recommendations of a competent authority, and
(b) prior written authorization has been received from the Board to use mixed gases other than nitrox and that the authorization is kept on the dive site, available for inspection by an officer.
(4) The following requirements apply to operations using nitrox mixes:
(a) procedures and mixes must be acceptable to the Board;
(b) all workers involved with nitrox diving must be trained in the procedures to a standard acceptable to the Board;
(c) proof of training and a copy of the operating procedures must be readily available at each dive site.
24.27 (1) All breathing apparatus and associated delivery systems must be correctly installed and tested for function before each use.
(2) The breathing apparatus, accessories and applicable service records must be available for inspection by an officer, and service records must be available to workers on the dive site.
[en. B.C. Reg. 312/2003, App. E, s. 25.]
Compressor intake
24.28 The compressor intake must be located so that the breathing medium will not be contaminated by gasoline vapours, engine exhausts, or other objectionable impurities.
24.29 (1) Gauges and meter equipment must be tested every 6 months or whenever a malfunction is detected, and errors found must be corrected without delay.
(2) If the equipment is removed from service, the specific problem with the equipment must be identified.
24.30 When any diving activity is taking place, warning devices must be displayed as follows:
(a) marker buoys must be used to display warning devices (flags, lights, lamps, or flares) to define the limits of the diving area, and boats other than those connected with the diving activity must be kept clear of the diving area;
(b) in navigable waters the recognized diver's flag must be flown or prominently displayed;
(c) flags and signals used for work site identification must only be displayed during active diving operations.
24.31 If divers are operating from floating equipment, a suitable power boat, ready for immediate use, must be available on the dive site, for rescue or escape.
24.32 (1) If a hoisting device is required to lower or raise the diver it must not be used for any other purpose until the diver has been recovered.
(2) All directions to the hoist operator must be given by either the diver, the diver's tender or the diving supervisor.
Standby diver
24.33 (1) A standby diver must be
(a) on the dive site and able to render assistance at all times when diving operations are in progress,
(b) trained and equipped to operate at the depths and circumstances of the dive, and
(c) able to enter the water in one minute.
(2) A standby diver on the surface may also perform other duties provided such duties do not compromise the standby diver's ability to promptly render emergency assistance to the divers.
(3) When the diving supervisor can assure that the depth of the dive will not exceed 18 m (60 ft) and no hazards are present, 2 divers in the water may act as standby for each other provided that
(a) each diver is free swimming,
(b) the no-decompression limit is not exceeded,
(c) each diver has been trained to effectively rescue a diver in trouble and has demonstrated this ability to the diving supervisor's satisfaction,
(d) the divers are in close proximity to each other at all times so as to be able to effect rescue, and
(e) the divers are in constant audio communication with each other and the surface, or when using scuba they maintain constant physical or visual contact with each other.
(4) In subsection (3), "no hazards are present" includes, but is not limited to, a dive made in good weather conditions, where there are no appreciable currents, where there is good underwater visibility, no possibility of entanglement with underwater objects, and good access and egress to and from the dive site.
Incident investigation reports
24.34 (1) An incident investigation report meeting the requirements of the OHS provisions of the Workers Compensation Act must be submitted to the Board as soon as possible if any of the following occurs during a diving operation:
(a) injury or death;
(b) convulsions or serious impairment of consciousness during or after a dive;
(c) decompression illness;
(d) lung overpressurization;
(e) any serious mishap, even though the diver escapes actual injury, or a series of events which render equipment or procedures suspect, before, during, or after the diving operation.
(2) The facts must be recorded as soon after the incident as possible, and the report must include the dive profile and all relevant details.
(3) In the event of any diving incident,
(a) the Board reserves the right to take temporary possession of and investigate all equipment related to the diving operation, and
(b) the equipment must not be tampered with or altered in any manner until authorization has been received from the Board.
[am. B.C. Regs. 185/99, s. 71; 195/2015, s. 2; 279/2019, App. D, s. 4.]
24.35 Each diver using scuba must
(a) employ the buddy system whereby 2 divers remain, at all times, in constant visual or physical contact and both surface immediately if they lose that contact,
(b) be tended on a lifeline by a diver's tender,
(c) be in constant audio communication with the surface, or
(d) be tethered, with a minimum 10 mm (3/8 in) diameter synthetic line or equivalent, to an identifiable float located on the surface that is constantly visually monitored from a location that allows immediate assistance to be rendered in case of emergency.
Minimum crew
24.36 (1) A minimum crew of 3 workers must be present on each dive site if the dive will
(a) not exceed 18 m (60 ft) in depth, and
(b) remain within the no-decompression limit, and
(c) be made where it is known there is no hazard of entrapment.
(2) When using the buddy system, a minimum of 2 divers must be present, and a third person must stay on the surface as a supervisor/tender.
(3) When using lifelines, floats or audio communication with the surface,
(a) a standby diver and a supervisor/tender must be on the surface, and
(b) a tender must tend only one scuba diver unless the divers are on floats, or have lifelines and effective 3-way voice communication, in which case the tender may tend 2 divers.
(4) When a dive does not meet the requirements of subsection (1), then
(a) a standby diver and a supervisor/tender must stay on the surface, and
(b) if not using the buddy system, a single diver must be tethered and carry a bailout bottle.
Restrictions on scuba
24.37 (1) Scuba must not be used in underwater construction, burning, welding, salvage operations, demolition, jetting and suction dredging or other diving operations in which the diver
(a) may be entrapped,
(b) does not have free access to the surface,
(c) may be exposed to a contaminated environment, or
(d) could be adversely affected by hazardous underwater or surface work activities or conditions which could be alleviated if the diver were using surface supplied air.
(2) Divers using scuba must use open circuit apparatus providing a breathing medium by an automatic demand flow system.
(3) Recirculating apparatus may only be used with prior permission of the Board.
(4) Divers using scuba must not dive to depths greater than 40 m (130 ft) unless prior authorization has been received from the Board.
24.38 (1) Each diver using scuba must use all of the following equipment appropriate to the diving conditions and as specified by the diving supervisor:
(a) a scuba unit complete with a quick release harness and a submersible pressure gauge;
(b) a face mask and swimming fins;
(c) a suitable knife and a depth gauge;
(d) an exposure suit and an inflatable buoyancy device;
(e) a weight belt with quick release buckle;
(f) an underwater watch with elapsed time indicator;
(g) an underwater light when night diving;
(2) If a risk of entrapment is present, one complete spare set of underwater breathing apparatus with fully charged cylinders must be assembled at the dive site.
(3) When diving in open water, each free swimming diver must carry an audible or visual locating device such as a whistle, flare, or strobe light.
Testing cylinders
24.39 (1) Each scuba cylinder must be hydrostatically tested at least once every 5 years and visually inspected internally at least once a year.
(2) The hydrostatic test date must be affixed to the cylinder and entered into the maintenance log.
(3) The visual inspection date must be entered in the maintenance log.
Surface Supply Diving
24.40 (1) For each diving operation where planned dives do not exceed 40 m (130 ft) or the no-decompression limits, and where there are no hazards present, a minimum dive crew of 3 workers must be present, one of whom must be a diver's supervisor/tender, one a diver and one a standby diver on the surface unless the standby is permitted by section 24.33 (3) to serve as a standby in the water.
(2) If the planned dive exceeds 40 m (130 ft), or the no-decompression limits, or there are hazards present, the dive crew must consist of a minimum of 4 workers: a diving supervisor, a diver's tender and 2 divers, one of whom must be a standby diver on the surface.
Diver's tender
24.41 (1) Each surface supplied diver must be tended, hands on, by a separate diver's tender.
(2) If audio communications are used, one tender may monitor 2 divers.
Diver's equipment
24.42 (1) Diver's boots must be patterned, constructed, and fastened to prevent their loss underwater.
(2) Every diver must wear a separate weight belt outside the diving dress, which
(a) if released must result in the diver achieving positive buoyancy, and
(b) must be inspected daily before commencing a diving operation.
(3) Non-return valves must be
(a) fitted to all surface supplied diving helmets, masks, and hookah diving systems, and
(b) checked before commencing a diving operation.
(4) Each diver must wear a bailout system and carry a suitable knife.
(5) When divers use a stage to carry out decompression diving, the stage must have an independent source of emergency breathing gases sufficient to complete any needed decompression of the diver.
24.43 Compressors used to supply air to divers must be
(a) capable of maintaining a supply of air equal to at least double the volume of air required,
(b) capable of developing pressure at least 25% greater than the anticipated pressure requirement, and
(c) automatic in operation.
Volume tanks
24.44 Air from a low pressure compressor must be discharged into a volume tank of at least 100 litres (22 imp gal) capacity, fitted with
(a) a no-return valve on the inlet side,
(b) a pressure gauge,
(c) an over pressure relief valve, and
(d) a drain cock capable of draining any fluids.
Breathing air filters
24.45 Air supplied from a volume tank must be passed through a filtration system consisting of at least a water trap, a particulate filter and a chemical vapour absorbent.
Manifolds and fittings
24.46 (1) The manifold system must be provided with
(a) a primary and a reserve air supply capable of being isolated from each other, and
(b) piping of a diameter which ensures an adequate flow of gas to the diver(s).
(2) The reserve supply must provide a sufficient quantity of breathing mixture to enable the diver to return to the surface and undergo all "in water" decompression.
(3) If there is no voice communication with the diver, each surface supplied air system must be equipped with an audible low pressure alarm situated so that it can be heard by the diving supervisor and the diver's tender.
Breathing gas lines
24.47 (1) All stationary breathing air or mixed gas lines must be guarded against damage or interference.
(2) Each diver's air or mixed gas line must be fitted with a valve that is
(a) readily accessible,
(b) guarded against interference,
(c) clearly marked to identify the diver it services, and
(d) under the care and control of the diver's supervisor or diver's tender.
(3) Each diver's air or mixed gas line must be fitted with a pressure gauge to indicate the pressure being delivered to the diver, and the gauge must be located downstream of the diver's supply valve so that the dial and figures are clearly visible to the diver's tender.
(4) All hoses, pipes, couplings and other fittings used in any air or mixed gas line for divers must be designed and suitable for their intended use.
(5) Hoses must be protected from kinking and be capable of sustaining the required flow rates and pressures for the system used.
(6) Every umbilical must incorporate a lifeline to prevent stress on the hose or diver's helmet, and the umbilical and lifeline must be attached to a suitable diver's harness.
(7) The standby diver's umbilical and lifeline must be of sufficient length to reach the operating diver.
24.48 Divers who take part in deep diving operations must
(a) be tethered to the work base by a breathing gas umbilical,
(b) have effective two-way voice communications with the surface, and
(c) be supplied with a mixed gas breathing medium.
24.49 An approved double lock hyperbaric chamber must be on the dive site and in operable condition.
Transportation to the underwater worksite
24.50 (1) If the depth of the dive is less than 73 m (240 ft) and the total "in water" ascent time is less than 1 hour, the diver must be transported to and from the underwater worksite by a stage, bell, or submersible compression chamber (SCC).
(2) If the depth or time exceeds the conditions in subsection (1) an SCC must be used to transport the diver.
(3) The standby diver must be stationed at the surface, or if an SCC is used the standby diver must be in the SCC.
(4) The diving supervisor must have a means of
(a) monitoring the depth of the diver and the SCC,
(b) controlling the pressures of the breathing mixtures supplied to each diver and the standby diver, and
(c) continuously analyzing the breathing mixture.
Rest periods
24.51 (1) If non-saturation diving techniques are used in a deep diving operation, the diving supervisor must ensure there is a rest period of at least 24 continuous hours following the completion of decompression.
(2) If saturation diving techniques are used, the diving supervisor must ensure that
(a) if the dive is to a depth of 150 m (500 ft) or less, a diver does not exceed 4 hours in the water and 4 hours as an attendant in the SCC,
(b) if the dive is deeper than 150 m (500 ft), a diver does not exceed 3 hours in the water and 3 hours as an attendant in the SCC, and
(c) in any 24 hour period, there is a rest period of at least 12 continuous hours after the applicable time limits in paragraphs (a) and (b) have been reached.
(3) A diver must not commence another dive within 7 days of completion of decompression following a saturation dive unless at the discretion of a physician knowledgeable and competent in diving medicine.
Submersible Compression Chambers (SCC) and Lock-Out Submersibles (LOS)
24.52 Submersible Compression Chambers and Lock-Out Submersibles must meet the requirements of CSA Standard Z275.1-93, Hyperbaric Facilities.
General equipment requirements
24.53 Each SCC and LOS must be equipped to permit the transfer of persons under pressure into and from a surface compression chamber, and must have
(a) doors and hatches that act as pressure seals, and that may be opened from either side,
(b) valves, gauges, and other fittings necessary to control the internal pressure and to clearly indicate the internal and external pressures,
(c) spring loaded pressurization and main exhaust valves which will close when not held in the open position,
(d) a reserve breathing mixture for persons occupying or working from the SCC or LOS, which must be protected against inadvertent operation and be capable of being brought on line from within the SCC or LOS without outside assistance,
(e) a two-way voice communication system capable of continuously recording and saving the previous 4 hours of conversation, with emergency backup capabilities, through which a person in the SCC or LOS can communicate with the diving supervisor,
(f) heating and lighting equipment including emergency backup illumination,
(g) first aid equipment, without towelettes,
(h) a hoisting device to bring an unconscious or injured diver into the chamber,
(i) a standby diver's umbilical bundle which must be 3 m (10 ft) longer than the diver's umbilical bundle,
(j) a strobe light that is activated while the chamber is in the water,
(k) an emergency locating device with a surface receiver operating at 37.5 kHz,
(l) instruments to monitor temperature, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels within the chamber, and for an SCC the instrument readings must be readable on the surface,
(m) primary and emergency carbon dioxide scrubbers,
(n) hull integrity valves mounted on all gas and other penetrations into the submersible compression chamber,
(o) a secondary source of power for the diving systems and equipment that can be rapidly brought on line in the event the primary energy source fails, and
(p) in a diving operation in which an SCC is used, a sufficient quantity of breathing mixture to meet the needs of the occupants of the chamber for at least 24 hours.
24.54 Each SCC and LOS must be of a design that
(a) allows divers to enter and exit without difficulty,
(b) allows at least 2 divers, equipped and dressed for the diving operation, to be seated within, and
(c) in case of emergency, allows a diver within to disconnect or shear the primary lifting cable and the umbilical bundle.
Lifting gear
24.55 (1) Each SCC and LOS must be used in association with lifting gear that
(a) enables the SCC or LOS to be lowered to the depth at which the diving operation is to be carried out, without excessive lateral, vertical, or rotational movement taking place,
(b) is provided with, in addition to the primary lifting cable, a tag rope so designed that in the event of the primary cable breaking during an air water interface transfer, the tag rope will permit the SCC or LOS to descend only to a calm area immediately below the turbulent wave zone, and
(c) is provided with a secondary means of being returned to the surface in the event of failure of the main lifting gear.
(2) If use of the secondary means in subsection (1) (c) involves shedding weights, the controls for shedding weights must be operable from within the SCC or LOS and must incorporate a means to prevent the weights from being shed inadvertently.
Secondary lifting equipment
24.56 (1) An LOS must be provided with
(a) a secondary lifting eye or similar device of at least the same strength as the primary lifting eye, and
(b) a secondary lifting cable that is readily available and of at least the same strength as the primary lifting cable, and is compatible with the secondary lifting eye or similar device.
(2) An SCC must be provided with
(b) a secondary lifting cable that is attached and capable of returning the SCC to the surface.
(3) An alternative means must be provided to return the SCC or LOS to the deck.
Diving system procedures
24.57 (1) The diving supervisor must ensure that a lock-out diving operation is not conducted from a submersible unless
(a) the submersible is negatively buoyant on the bottom or positively secured to the work site,
(b) the diving supervisor is on board the submersible and present in the one atmosphere chamber during the lock-out operation, and
(c) a standby diver is monitoring the lock-out operation from the submersible's compression chamber and is dressed and equipped to immediately carry out rescue operations in the event of an emergency.
(2) The diving supervisor must ensure that lock-out submersible and atmospheric diving system operations are not conducted unless
(a) a backup unit with sufficient depth capabilities to effect a rescue is available for use in the event of an emergency,
(b) the on-board life-support system of the LOS is capable of sustaining life for a period of time that would enable the backup unit to reach the site of the diving operation and effect rescue, and
(c) a breathing mixture is provided that will meet the needs of the occupants for at least 48 hours.
Atmospheric Diving Systems (ADS)
24.58 The employer must ensure that an atmospheric diving system meets the requirements for registration with Lloyd's Registry of Shipping, the American Bureau of Shipping, or Det Norske Veritas.
24.59 An ADS must have
(a) valves, gauges, and other fittings necessary to control the internal pressure, and to clearly indicate the internal and external pressures,
(b) a reserve breathing mixture for persons occupying the ADS, a mixture which is protected against inadvertent operation and is capable of being brought on line from inside, without outside assistance,
(c) a two-way voice communication system, capable of continuously recording and saving the previous 4 hours of conversation, and with emergency backup capabilities, by which a person inside the atmospheric diving system can communicate with the diving supervisor,
(d) lighting equipment including emergency backup illumination,
(e) first aid equipment,
(f) heating equipment and thermal protection for all occupants,
(g) a strobe light that can be activated while the ADS is in the water,
(h) an emergency locating device with a surface receiver operating at 37.5 kHz,
(i) instruments to enable occupants to monitor the temperature, oxygen and carbon dioxide within the atmospheric diving system,
(j) a primary and an emergency means of scrubbing carbon dioxide,
(k) a device which allows the occupant to disconnect or shear the primary lifting cable and the umbilical bundle in an emergency, and
(l) in addition to the primary lifting cable, a tag rope or secondary lifting method so designed that in the event of the primary cable breaking during an air water interface transfer, the tag rope or secondary method will permit the ADS to descend only to a calm area immediately below the turbulent wave zone.
Secondary means of surfacing
24.60 (1) The employer must ensure that atmospheric diving operations are not conducted unless the atmospheric diving system is provided with a secondary means of returning to the surface in the event the main lifting gear fails.
(2) If use of the secondary means involves shedding weights, the controls for shedding weights must be operable from within and must incorporate a means to prevent the weights from being shed inadvertently.
24.61 An ADS must be provided with
(a) a secondary lifting eye or similar device that is of at least the same strength as the primary lifting eye, and
(b) a secondary lifting cable that is readily available and of at least the same strength as the primary lifting cable, and is compatible with the secondary lifting eye or device.
General procedures
24.62 (1) The diving supervisor must ensure that altitude diving operations are conducted in accordance with acceptable altitude diving tables.
(2) Altitude diving procedures must address
(a) acclimatization at the dive site to reduce the diver's nitrogen load caused by the reduced atmospheric pressure at the increased altitude,
(b) the equivalent ocean depth in order to select the appropriate tables at the altitude,
(c) accurate methods of calculating the diver's actual depth of dive,
(d) calculation of the reduction in ascent rate due to the increase in altitude, and
(e) post dive travel considerations.
Specific Diving Hazards
Hazardous mechanisms
24.63 Before a diver enters the water all hazardous mechanisms must be
(a) secured against inadvertent movement, and
(b) locked out as required by Part 10 (De-energization and Lockout).
Intakes, pipes and tunnels
24.64 (1) If a diver is required to approach or enter the intake of any pipe, tunnel, duct, or similar installation the diver must be provided with the means to distinguish the specific intake from any others in the vicinity.
(2) A diver must not enter the water until flow through the intake is stopped and the intake mechanism is locked out, and the flow must not be restarted until the diver has left the water.
(3) If divers are required to approach a hazardous mechanism, a pressure differential structure, or the intake of any pipe, tunnel, duct or similar installation, the divers must use only surface-tethered diving equipment with effective two-way voice communication with the surface; if required to enter, they must use only surface supplied diving equipment with effective two-way voice communication with the surface.
Exceptional hazards
24.65 Additional dive team members with independent equipment and capable of effecting rescue must be on the dive site whenever diving operations incur exceptional risk of entrapment of a diver or loss of the diver's life support system.
Contaminated environments
24.66 (1) Before diving commences in a contaminated environment, an operational plan must be devised that is available at the dive site and provides for
(a) identification of the contaminants,
(b) special clothing or equipment to be used,
(c) potential adverse health effects to persons and special medical precautionary measures,
(d) identification of the exclusion zone, contamination reduction zone and the support zone, and protective clothing and equipment to be used in them,
(e) measures to be followed by personnel when moving from one zone to another,
(f) special first aid measures associated with exposure to the specific contaminants, and
(g) emergency telephone numbers to secure qualified assistance within adequate response times.
(2) The diving supervisor must ensure that
(a) emergency breathing apparatus is provided for surface support personnel if there is risk of inhaling dangerous contaminants during the diving operations,
(b) suitable apparel and equipment is worn by surface support personnel to prevent exposure to contaminants,
(c) an appropriate means of safely decontaminating personnel is available at the dive site,
(d) the dive site has the means and facilities to safely dispose of contaminated clothing and equipment,
(e) all diving systems and equipment exposed to the contaminant are inspected for deterioration before each dive,
(f) diaphragms of the first and second regulators and associated exhaust valves are inspected for deterioration before each dive, and
(g) contaminated diving systems and equipment are not removed from the dive site unless authorized by the diving supervisor, and are not used in any subsequent diving operation unless found free of all contaminants.
(3) A minimum crew of 4 workers must be present at a diving operation in a contaminated environment, one of whom must be a diver, one a diving supervisor, one a diver's tender, and one a standby diver.
(4) The diving supervisor must ensure that scuba is not used for diving operations in a contaminated environment.
(5) For dives in contaminated environments, the diving supervisor must ensure that divers use surface supply equipment including
(a) a surface supply diving helmet designed and suitable for such work,
(b) a totally enclosed diving suit, made of nonabsorbent material which mates to the helmet with a positive seal and locking device,
(c) a two-way voice communication system, and
(d) protective devices, where practicable, to minimize contaminant exposure to diving equipment.
(6) For dives in contaminated environments, the following zones must be established on site:
(a) a dedicated contamination reduction zone with suitable means to decontaminate personnel;
(b) a dedicated support zone with suitable means to decontaminate or dispose of apparel and equipment;
(c) a dedicated exclusion zone to handle the contaminant, accessible only to authorized and protected personnel.
(7) For dives in contaminated environments,
(a) workers entering the exclusion zone must wear appropriate personal protective equipment,
(b) workers must enter and leave the exclusion zone only through the contamination reduction zone, and
(c) no food, drink, or tobacco may be taken into the exclusion zone or the contamination zone.
Live Boating
24.67 Live boating diving operations must be conducted only
(a) during daylight hours,
(b) in appropriate weather, current and sea conditions,
(c) from a vessel with the necessary maneuverability to ensure the diver's safety, and which is under the control of a competent master, and
(d) within the no-decompression limits.
24.68 The diving supervisor must ensure that
(a) a procedure or device is in place that will prevent the diver's lifeline or umbilical bundle from becoming entangled in the boat's propulsion system,
(b) the diver's tender is in a position of unobstructed view to the vessel master and the diving supervisor,
(c) the propulsion system is disengaged when the diver enters or leaves the water,
(d) the diver's umbilical or lifeline is monitored, hands on, by a diver's tender,
(e) there is continuous voice communication,
(f) no more than 70% of the diver's umbilical or lifeline is deployed during the diving operation,
(g) the vessel master is competent to perform live boating operations and is under the direct control of the diving supervisor during diving operations, and
(h) all dive crew members are familiar with their duties and responsibilities with respect to the diver's safety, and they may terminate the dive if the diver's safety is jeopardized.
Fishing Operations
24.69 (1) Sections 8.26 and 8.28 do not apply to a crewmember of a fishing vessel.
(2) Section 8.29 does not apply to an owner or master of a fishing vessel.
(3) Sections 8.27 and 8.30 do not apply to a personal flotation device (PFD) or lifejacket used on a fishing vessel.
[en. B.C. Reg. 14/2019, App. E, s. 4.]
24.70 All fishing vessels must
(a) be maintained in seaworthy condition, and
(b) be built in accordance with the applicable regulations under the Canada Shipping Act, 2001.
Owner and master responsibilities
24.71 (1) An owner of a fishing vessel must ensure that all machinery and equipment on board a fishing vessel is capable of safely performing the functions for which it is used.
(2) The owner must ensure that major modifications to a fishing vessel do not adversely affect the stability of the vessel.
(3) The master of a fishing vessel must ensure that
(a) machinery and equipment is properly maintained and functions safely during the voyage, and
(b) any replacement equipment meets the requirements of this Part.
24.72 The owner of every fishing vessel must provide documentation on board, readily accessible to crewmembers, which describes
(a) engine room instructions,
(b) vessel characteristics, including stability,
(c) the location and use of firefighting equipment, and
(d) the location and use of emergency equipment, including radio equipment.
24.73 (1) Before the start of each fishing season, the master must ensure that each crewmember is instructed in the operational characteristics of the fishing vessel including
(a) the location and use of safety equipment, engine room components and controls,
(b) deck equipment and rigging,
(c) navigation equipment and electronic aids,
(d) fishing equipment and its use, including safe work practices for each fishery the vessel will be engaged in,
(e) procedures for anchoring the vessel,
(f) the location and use of emergency equipment, including firefighting and radio equipment, and
(g) escape routes in the event of fire.
(2) The master must ensure as far as is reasonably practicable, that the instruction required by subsection (1) results in each crewmember being able to apply the information as needed to protect the crewmember's health and safety.
(3) New crewmembers joining the vessel must be instructed in accordance with the requirements of this section at the time that they join the vessel.
24.74 (1) The master must establish procedures and assign responsibilities to each crewmember to cover all emergencies including
(a) crewmember overboard,
(b) fire on board,
(c) flooding of the vessel,
(d) abandoning ship, and
(e) calling for help.
(2) The master must ensure that drills are conducted at the start of each fishing season, when there is a change of crew, and at periodic intervals to ensure that crewmembers are familiar with emergency procedures.
Crewmember responsibility
24.75 Crewmembers must take all reasonable precautions necessary to ensure the health and safety of themselves and other persons on board the fishing vessel.
Vessel preparation
24.76 Before leaving on a voyage the master must ensure that the fishing vessel is capable of safely making the passage, due consideration being given to
(a) the seaworthiness of the vessel,
(b) the stowage and securing of all cargo, skiffs, equipment, fuel containers and supplies,
(c) ballasting, and
(d) present and forecast weather conditions.
Reporting injuries
24.77 (1) Crewmembers must report all injuries to the master, without delay.
(2) The master must report to the owner of the fishing vessel all injuries that required medical aid and record all injuries in the vessel log book.
Unsafe conditions
24.78 (1) A crewmember who observes an unsafe or harmful condition or situation must immediately report it to the master.
(2) The master must ensure that action is taken, without delay, to correct an unsafe or harmful condition or situation.
24.79 Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 348/2003, s. 10.]
Slipping and tripping hazards
24.80 (1) All work areas must be kept
(a) clear of unnecessary obstructions, and
(b) free of slipping and tripping hazards.
(2) Decks must have non-skid surfaces except in those locations where a smooth deck is required for handling fish.
(3) Tools and equipment must be securely stowed when not in use.
Guarding of equipment
24.81 The owner of a fishing vessel must ensure that moving parts of power operated equipment are, where practicable, fitted with effective guards if such parts constitute a danger to crewmembers.
Inspection of rigging
24.82 The master must ensure that all rigging is maintained and inspected regularly to ensure that it is able to safely carry out the work for which it was designed.
Access and egress
24.83 Every portable ladder or gangway between a fishing vessel and shore, between vessels, or when used on board a vessel must be designed and rigged to provide safe access and egress.
Protection from falling
24.84 (1) Crewmembers must be protected from falling overboard by means of grabrails, siderails, handrails, guardrails or personal fall protection equipment.
(2) Crewmembers working aloft or on deck during adverse weather conditions must tie off to a lifeline to prevent falling.
Deck openings
24.85 (1) Deck openings and hatches on a fishing vessel must be
(a) equipped with an effective means of securing them, and
(b) closed and secured when it is not essential to the fishing operation that they be open.
(2) When deck openings and hatches are required to be open for ventilation or other purposes, they must be marked and guarded.
De-energization
24.86 (1) The maintenance and repair of machinery or equipment on board a fishing vessel must only be carried out when the power source has been de-energized and effectively secured to prevent inadvertent startup.
(2) If it is essential that equipment remain operational during the maintenance process, the master must establish a procedure to prevent injury from contact with moving or energized parts.
(3) The main engine must be shut off whenever a diver is conducting work underwater in proximity to the vessel.
Equipment control devices
24.87 (1) Winches, drums, capstans, and similar equipment on board a fishing vessel must have at least one master on/off control that is readily accessible on deck.
(2) Drum pedals and other types of hold-to-run controls must not be bypassed or otherwise rendered ineffective.
Braking devices
24.88 Winches and drums capable of freewheeling must be fitted with an effective braking device.
24.89 All work areas on board a fishing vessel must be sufficiently illuminated to enable work to be done safely.
24.90 All crew spaces on fishing vessels must be provided with an adequate supply of fresh air either by passive or mechanical means.
Propane installations
24.91 Propane, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) installations used for appliances on fishing vessels must be in conformity with the NFPA Standard 302-1989, Fire Protection Standard for Pleasure and Commercial Motor Craft.
Galley requirements
24.92 (1) Galley stoves on fishing vessels must be fitted with rails or other means to restrain the movement of cooking utensils, and to prevent inadvertent contact by crewmembers.
(2) Stove fuel supply tanks and lines must
(a) be fitted with a shutoff valve at the tank, and
(b) not be located directly above the stove.
(3) Galley stoves must
(a) be secured to prevent movement, and
(b) have sufficient clearance to permit the effective cleanup of oil and grease.
Requirements for sensors and alarms
24.93 (1) An owner of a fishing vessel must ensure that a heat sensor, connected to an alarm system, is installed
(a) above the galley stove or near the stove pipe, and
(b) in proximity to the engine exhaust.
(2) The owner must ensure that a water level sensor, connected to an alarm system, is installed
(a) in the machinery space bilges, and
(b) in the shaft log or lazarette.
(3) The owner must ensure that main engines are fitted with low oil pressure and high temperature sensors connected to an alarm system.
(4) The owner must ensure that a sensor and alarm system is installed if the Board considers this necessary to detect leaks of potentially explosive fuel used in engines or appliances.
(5) The owner must ensure that an audible marine grade carbon monoxide sensor, connected to an alarm system where practicable, is installed in crew quarters.
Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 312/2003, App. D, s. 26.]
Protection against cold
24.96 Crewmembers working in freezers must wear clothing, including headgear, footwear and gloves, that provides adequate protection against cold.
When crewmember must wear a personal flotation device (PFD) or lifejacket
24.96.1 A crewmember must wear a personal flotation device (PFD) or lifejacket on a fishing vessel if the crewmember is
(a) on board the fishing vessel, in the case of a fishing vessel that has no deck or deck structure, or
(b) on the deck or in the cockpit of the fishing vessel, in the case of a fishing vessel that has a deck or deck structure.
Crewmember working alone
24.96.2 If a crewmember is working alone on a fishing vessel, the crewmember must wear a lifejacket that
(a) has a minimum buoyancy of 93 N (21 lbs), and
(b) is inherently buoyant or automatically inflatable.
Record of inspection and maintenance
24.96.3 If crewmembers use inflatable personal flotation devices (PFDs) or automatically inflatable lifejackets on a fishing vessel, the owner or the master must keep a record of all inspections made and maintenance performed on those PFDs or automatically inflatable lifejackets.
Crewmember overboard
24.97 (1) Every fishing vessel must carry, for each crewmember, one immersion suit meeting standards acceptable to the Board.
(2) The master of a vessel must ensure that there is suitable equipment on board and that procedures have been developed which will enable the prompt recovery of a crewmember overboard.
24.98 The owner of a fishing vessel must ensure that all moveable davits are fitted with an effective locking device.
24.99 The master must ensure that effective procedures are developed to communicate between the bridge and all work areas on the vessel.
24.100 The owner of a fishing vessel must ensure that ozone generating equipment is installed and operated in accordance with standards acceptable to the Board.
Loading and offloading
24.101 The master of a fishing vessel carrying fish or cargo must establish safe procedures for the loading and offloading of fish and cargo.
Work areas and operations
24.102 All work areas must be arranged and operations organized to minimize the potential for injury to crewmembers, including strains and sprains.
Proper lifting
24.103 The master must ensure that crewmembers are instructed in and use proper lifting techniques.
Requirements for Specific Fishing Operations
Gillnetting
24.104 The owner of a gillnet vessel must ensure that drums are fitted with
(a) an effective ratchet device for picking up the net under heavy strain,
(b) an effective brake to maintain control when setting out the net, and
(c) a hold-to-run control.
Pin rollers
24.105 (1) The owner must ensure that pin rollers are of a design to prevent their inadvertent lifting.
(2) The master must ensure that pin rollers are maintained to prevent their inadvertent lifting.
Work areas and safeguarding
24.106 (1) Work areas on herring skiffs and punts must be arranged to prevent contact with moving equipment such as beaters and live rollers.
(2) The owner of a herring gillnet vessel must ensure that drums are fitted with
(a) an effective ratchet device for picking up the net under heavy strain and an effective brake to maintain control when setting out the net, and
(b) a hold-to-run control or other equally effective safeguard to stop the drums if a worker becomes entangled in the net or lines being wound in by the drum.
[en. B.C. Reg. 243/2006, s. 15.]
Fouled propellers
24.107 The master of a herring skiff or punt must develop safe work procedures to direct crewmembers in how to clear fouled propellers.
Hauling net anchors
24.108 The owner must ensure that, when required by fishing conditions, herring skiffs and punts are fitted with mechanical means for hauling net anchors.
Brailers
24.109 Crewmembers must keep clear of brailers when unloading herring.
Towing skiffs
24.110 The master of a fishing vessel that will tow a skiff or punt must develop safe procedures for towing in all weather conditions including
(a) a means of self bailing,
(b) the use of tow line shock absorbers, and
(c) the use of drogue devices to prevent sheering and overtaking.
Handlining
24.111 Crewmembers must wear hand protection acceptable to the Board when handlining.
Longlining
Setting procedures
24.112 The master must establish safe procedures for setting gear to prevent crewmembers being caught by hooks and other gear.
24.113 Each setting and hauling station must be equipped with a knife capable of cutting the gear.
Guarding
24.114 Drums and automated systems using longlines with hooks attached must be guarded or shielded to prevent inadvertent contact with hooks.
Hoisting device
24.115 If there is a potential for injury to crewmembers, a hoisting device must be provided and used to lift large fish.
Seining
Hairpins and ringstrippers
24.116 (1) Seiners built after January 1, 1995 must be fitted with ringstrippers.
(2) The owner of a seiner must ensure that hairpins or ringstrippers on the vessel are designed and constructed so that crewmembers will not be endangered by their use.
(3) The master of a seiner must, if applicable, develop safe hairpin or ringstripper operating procedures which include
(a) consideration of sea and tide conditions,
(b) crew coordination,
(c) communication,
(d) spooling gear,
(e) drumming, and
(f) hoisting and securing.
Spooling gear
24.117 (1) The owner of a seiner must ensure that pursing winches and leads are positioned to permit proper spooling.
(2) Crewmembers must keep clear of the stern spooling gear while it is in operation.
Lifting the bag
24.118 (1) Whenever drawing the bag over the stern presents a risk of equipment failure or vessel instability, alternate procedures such as splitting the lift or brailing must be developed and used.
(2) Crewmembers must stay clear of the bag when it is brought over the stern roller.
Drum operation
24.119 Crewmembers operating the drum must not leave the controls while the drum is turning.
Brailing
24.120 The master of a seiner carrying a brailer must ensure that crewmembers are instructed in safe brailing procedures.
Purse rings
24.121 Purse rings on all seine nets must be secured to the middle of the ring strap to prevent rings from falling when fleeting the net through the power block.
24.122 (1) The owner of a seiner carrying pumping gear must ensure that it is capable of pumping fish from the bottom of the bunt while on a set.
(2) If 2 or more fishing vessels are working in a team, the pumping gear may be shared between the vessels.
Drying up
24.123 The master of a seiner must establish a safe drying up procedure which includes
(a) communication on deck and between vessels,
(b) coordination of activities,
(c) securing the net,
(d) hoisting fleets, and
(e) the means of jettisoning the set should the vessel become endangered.
24.124 (1) Power block haul lines must be minimum 25 mm (1 in) diameter double braid nylon or equivalent.
(2) The master must ensure that power block haul lines are inspected frequently and maintained in safe condition.
(3) Haul lines must be shackled to the power block.
(4) A power block must be equipped with an effective safety line when suspended above the deck.
Seine Skiffs
24.125 The master of a seiner must ensure there is an effective means of communication between the vessel and the skiff during towing operations.
Skiff design
24.126 (1) Decks and floors of skiffs must be non-skid.
(2) Rails and sides of skiffs must be maintained free of protrusions that could snag the net.
Equipment stowage
24.127 Lines and other necessary equipment in skiffs must be securely stowed to prevent slipping and tripping.
24.128 Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 14/2019, App. E, s. 6.]
24.129 The owner must ensure that the exhaust system for an engine in a powered skiff
(a) directs the exhaust away from crewmembers, and
(b) is shielded to prevent burns.
24.130 (1) Towposts in skiffs must be designed and installed to minimize the potential for capsizing.
(2) Power skiffs must be operated in a manner that eliminates the danger of capsizing from backlash in the net.
Beachline Operations
24.131 (1) The master of a salmon seiner must ensure that only trained and adequately supervised crewmembers are permitted to tie up to the beach during fishing operations.
(2) The training required in subsection (1) includes instruction in
(a) proper knots,
(b) assessing the tie-up,
(c) beachline straps,
(d) communication,
(e) tying and untying procedures, and
(f) cutting the strap.
Tie-up sites
24.132 Beach tie-up sites must be selected with due regard for the health and safety of crewmembers, consideration being given to terrain, wind and sea conditions.
24.133 Crewmembers engaged in beach tie-ups must
(a) wear appropriate gloves and footwear meeting the requirements of the Board, and
(b) carry a knife capable of cutting the beachline or strap.
24.134 The master of a salmon seiner must not conduct beach operations during darkness unless
(a) crewmembers are properly trained in night-time procedures,
(b) crewmembers in the skiff wear high visibility apparel,
(c) the vessel has the capability of adequately illuminating the work area, and
(d) an effective means of communication is established between the skiff and the seiner.
Trap Fishing
Master's responsibility
24.135 The master must ensure that the stability of the fishing vessel is not compromised by
(a) the number of traps loaded on the vessel, and
(b) the manner in which the traps are loaded.
Securing traps
24.136 Traps must be secured to prevent inadvertent swinging or other movement during setting and hauling.
24.137 Crewmembers working on the stern setting black cod traps must be tied off with a safety belt or harness, and lifeline, both meeting standards acceptable to the Board.
Trawling
Safe work procedures
24.138 (1) The master must establish safe work procedures for shooting and hauling trawls.
(2) When shooting the trawl, crewmembers must stay clear of the net once the cod end is overboard.
(3) When hooking up and unhooking trawl doors on the davits, crewmembers must stay clear of pinch points.
(4) The master must establish a safe fleeting procedure.
Securing areas and equipment
24.139 (1) Open stern ramps must be roped off or otherwise guarded except when the area must be open for trawling operations.
(2) Beams must be secured to prevent inadvertent movement when attaching or detaching plumb staffs.
(3) Trawl doors and otter boards must be secured to davits when not in use.
(4) Shrimp and fish boxes must be secured to prevent inadvertent movement.
Splitting straps
24.140 All trawl cod ends must be fitted with splitting straps.
Trolling poles
24.141 Trolling poles and stabilizer poles must be fitted with safety straps or other devices to limit their downward travel and to lock them in the down position.
Gurdy brakes
24.142 Gurdy braking devices must be maintained in good working order.
24.143 Cockpits must be equipped with covers and an adequate means to secure them in adverse weather.


My son, Wyatt (2yrs old), as The Grinch! We LOVE the movie "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" in our house so that is where the inspiration came from. I had the idea in mind for about a year so I was able to put careful thought into it. I found a green sweater at a yardsale which I was able to make the pants out of and I attached pieces of a green feather boa on the bottoms. I purchased a white shirt at walmart and hand painted the Christmas tree detail and stripes on the sleeves. Green washable hairspray purchased at a halloween store. Painted face with some face paints and eyeliner pencil. Also put a little cotton stuffing under his shirt for a bigger belly and added more feathers coming out from under his shirt.


Installation of Shree Yantra is an excellent solution to rectify Vastu defects. Just by installing Shree Yantra, Vastu and Feng-Shui defects of house, shop, office, factory etc. can be rectified without dismantling its physical structure. It is a means of positivity and prosperity also.
Recommendation– Shree Yantra must be placed where business is carried. Shree Yantra takes away negative energy of that place and continuously energizes by divine energy and opens new fronts to gain wealth. Shree Yantra attracts wealth like a magnet, continuously grows business and profession. As well as, it provides positivity, spreads peace and good health.
Several Industrial houses have placed Shree Yantra and achieved wealth and success in short period. Shree Yantra is goddess Lakshmi's beloved Yantra. There is permanent presence of goddess Lakshmi where Shree Yantra is placed and keeps on giving various favourable results.
Recommendation for direction of Installation can be found here.


The ocean data are based on the RL05 spherical harmonics from CSR, JPL and GFZ (maximum degree/order: n=40; this is driven by the current destriping algorithm - see below).
The C20 (degree 2 order 0) coefficients are replaced with the solutions from Satellite Laser Ranging [Cheng et al., 2011]. The C20 values derived from GRACE observations have a larger uncertainty than the SLR-values.
The degree 1 coefficients ( geocenter) are estimated using the method from Swenson, Chambers, and Wahr (2008).
A glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) correction has been applied based in the model from Geruo A and J. Wahr (2013).
A destriping filter (optimized for the ocean areas and different from the land destriping) has been applied to the data, to minimize the effect of an error whose telltale signal are N-S stripes in GRACE monthly maps.
A 500 km wide gaussian filter has also been applied to the data; this smoothing yields the best fit of GRACE observations to total SSH (from altimetry) minus steric SSH (Argo data) (Chambers and Bonin, 2012).
A spherical harmonic filter cutoff at degree/order 40 acts as a third filter on the data.
Land leakage correction: Ocean signals are typically weaker than land signals, by factors of 2 and more, on seasonal and interannual time scales. High latitude ocean bottom pressure signals are stronger than low latitude signals. The spatial filters (gaussian, degree 40 cutoff) used to decrease high wavenumber errors also imply that a value at an 'ocean pixel' within at least 500 km of land will include part of that land signal. If that land signal is very large it may overwhelm the ocean signal. To minimize this land signal leakage onto ocean signals, a special iterative procedure is applied here. Please note that the destriping filter can cause correlations over much larger distances.
GLOBAL MEAN OCEAN MASS: Please note that the gridded GRCTellus OCEAN maps are optimized to examine regional OBP variations, but are NOT intended to be spatially averaged to determine global mean ocean mass. As of GRCTellus version [RL05.DSTvDPC1401], the area-weighted global mean is set to zero. To compute global ocean mass from GRACE, one must use non-destriped & un-smoothed data, and should mask out any ocean areas within 300 km of land points to avoid land leakage and biases. A time series of Global Mean Ocean Mass will soon be provided here.
The ocean data contain no wavelength shorter than ~1,000km because of the cutoff at spherical harmonic degree 40. However, the 'bandpass' at longer wavelengths is not a uniform value of 1 because of the gaussian smoother. All these filters attenuate signal even at wavelengths longer than 1000km. While the SAMPLING of all grids is 1 degree in both latitude and longitude (approx. 111 km at the Equator), this does not mean that two consecutive samples are 'independent' precisely because of the smoothing applied. For more details on the current GRCTellus OCN post-processing, see the paper by Chambers and Bonin (2012) .
The 'EOFR' bottom pressure grids are obtained by projecting the data from the regular GRC Ocean grids described above onto the Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs) of the Ocean Model for Circulation and Tides (OMCT), and then reconstructing the OBP variations using the first 15 modes (Chambers and Willis, 2010). This effectively filters out signals in the GRACE data that are inconsistent with the physics and OBP variations in the OMCT ocean model. The EOFR filtered reconstructed bottom pressure fields agree better with radar altimetric sea surface height corrected for steric effects determined from Argo floats. In addition, leakage artifacts and errors around ice sheets and glaciers are reduced significantly, as well as noise in the midlatitudes where OBP variability is lower. Please cite Chambers and Bonin (2012) when using these data.
The RMS error estimates for version [RL05.DSTvDPC1401] is estimated to range from 1.0 cm at mid and low latitudes to 1.5-2 cm at higher latitudes. The RMS error of the EOFR grid is approximately 0.7 cm. Values over neighboring pixels are correlated due to the destriping filter, cutoff at spherical harmonic degree 40, and the 500 km gaussian smoothing. Errors are comparable for the three centers; see Chambers and Bonin (2012) for further details.
Further details on the GRC Telllus Ocean processing for RL05 is documentd in Chambers and Bonin (2012).
GRACE ocean data were processed by Don P. Chambers, supported by the NASA MEaSUREs Program, and are available at http://grace.jpl.nasa.gov.
D.P. Chambers. 2012. GRACE MONTHLY OCEAN MASS GRIDS NETCDF RELEASE 5.0. Ver. 5.0. PO.DAAC, CA, USA. Dataset accessed [YYYY-MM-DD] at http://dx.doi.org/10.5067/TEOCN-0N005.
Chambers, D.P. and J.A. Bonin: Evaluation of Release 05 time-variable gravity coefficients over the ocean. Ocean Science 8, 859-868, 2012. www.ocean-sci.net/8/859/2012.
Chambers D.P. and J. K. Willis: A Global Evaluation of Ocean Bottom Pressure from GRACE, OMCT, and Steric-Corrected Altimetry. J. of Oceanic and Atmosph. Technology, vol 27, pp 1395-1402.DOI: 10.1175/2010JTECHO738.1, 2010.
Chambers, D. P: Observing seasonal steric sea level variations with GRACE and satellite altimetry, J. Geophys. Res., 111 (C3), C03010, 10.1029/2005JC002914, 2006.
Swenson S.C , D. P. Chambers, and J. Wahr: Estimating geocenter variations from a combination of GRACE and ocean model output. J Geophys. Res.-Solid Earth, Vol 113, Issue: B8, Article B08410. 2008.
Wahr, J., M. Molenaar, and F. Bryan, Time-variability of the Earth's gravity field: Hydrological and oceanic effects and their possible detection using GRACE, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 32,20530,229, 1998.
Each monthly GRCTellus grid represents the surface mass deviation for that month relative to the baseline average over Jan 2005 to Dec 2010. For comparisons against other data or models, it is critical that anomalies relative to the same time-average are compared. This is simple to do: for example, if the new baseline is 2004-2006, average the GRCTellus grids over 1/2004 to 12/2006, and subtract this average grid from all other monthly grids. Please check the FAQs regarding questions about the time-mean field.


Completely remodeled home. Moving walls and adding a garage. All with permits. Open floor plan. Great Kitchen with walk-in pantry, large lot, and new paint throughout. This Large Lot home in Chandler is in a great area without an HOA. Water Heater and AC unit are only around 6 years old. This house has a great feel!


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text:
India gets the chairmanship of ILO the governing body after 35 years
By IW News Service | Oct 23, 2020 | Bureaucracy, World |
New Delhi: After 35 years, India has assumed the chairmanship of the governing body of International Labour Organization, marking a new chapter in the 100 years of productive relationship between India and ILO.
Apurva Chandra, Secretary (Labour and Employment) has been elected as the chairperson of the governing body of the ILO for the period October 2020- June 2021.
The governing body is the apex executive body of the ILO which decides policies, programmes, agenda, budget and elects the director-general.
At present ILO has 187 members. Apurva Chnadra will be presiding over the upcoming meeting of the governing body to be held in November 2020. At Geneva, he would have the opportunity to interact with the senior officials and social partners of the member states. It will also provide a platform to appraise participants of the transformational initiatives taken by government in removing the rigidities of labour market besides makingits intention clear about universalization of social security to all workers whether in organised or unorganised sector.
Apurva Chandra belongs to the 1988 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Maharashtra Cadre.i Chandra has spent more than seven years in the ministry of petroleum & natural gas. Chandra has worked for over four years between 2013 and 2017 as principal secretary (Industries) in the government of Maharashtra.
Apurva Chandra joined as director general (Acquisition) in ministry of defence w.e.f. 01.12.2017 with the mandate of strengthening the Indian Armed Forces by expediting the acquisition process. He chaired the Committee to draft the new Defence Acquisition Procedure. The Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 has come into effect from 1st October 2020 on the day he joined the ministry of labour and employment as secretary.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Paediatric TB: should Xpert molecular test replace smear microscopy?
January 14, 2016 July 6, 2016 / Prasad Ravindranath
Unlike adults, children under five years of age are particularly vulnerable to getting infected with TB and may develop the disease very soon after infection. This is all the more true in the case of those from households where an adult has been recently diagnosed with sputum smear positive active pulmonary TB.
India's Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) estimates that children account for about 12 per cent of the total TB caseload in the country. As WHO had pointed out, the estimated caseload in India, like in other countries, is a gross underestimation.
The main reason is that correct diagnosis of pulmonary TB infection and disease in children, especially in those under five years, is a big challenge. For instance, unlike adults, young children are unable to produce sputum — the most vital and basic sample to confirm infection/disease.
As a rule, only very few TB bacilli are present in the sputum sample of young children. This is particularly true in the case of children who are less ill. Other diagnostic methods — tuberculin skin test and chest X-ray — have their own limitations and challenges. And clinical symptoms can only serve as a useful indicator but cannot be used in isolation as children exhibit non-specific symptoms.
First diagnostic tool
Smear microscopy is the first diagnostic tool used to microbiologically confirm TB infection/disease. Unfortunately, smear microscopy performs poorly in children, especially in those under five years.
The sensitivity of microscopy — depending on the child's age, disease severity and mycobacterial burden — is about 15-20 per cent. Hence, even many active TB cases show up as sputum smear negative (meaning that the child is free of disease).
Culture is the gold standard in diagnosing TB. "[But] culture is not infallible — it has sensitivity limitations and takes time [several weeks] to yield a clinically useful result," a November 5, 2012 paper published online in The Lancet points out. "Where optimum culture facilities are available, confirmation is delayed and the combination of sputum smear and culture tests still misses many cases of childhood tuberculosis."
"The sensitivity of culture varies between 20 per cent and 60 per cent, depending on what you look at," Dr. Anne Detjen, Technical Consultant, The Union North America Office, childhood TB/child lung health, said in an email to this Correspondent.
For these reasons, researchers are looking for an alternative test that is more sensitive than smear microscopy and takes less time than culture to yield useful results. And the one that is currently available is Xpert MTB/RIF — a rapid molecular test. In 2010, WHO endorsed Xpert for rapid diagnosis of drug-sensitive and multi-drug resistant TB. Several studies have been done to test its usefulness in diagnosing TB in children and the results appear encouraging.
A WHO policy update released a few days ago on the use of Xpert in adults and children with pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB clearly states that the "overall pooled sensitivity of Xpert MTB/RIF against culture in children presumed to have TB was 66 per cent in 10 studies where expectorated sputum (ES) or induced sputum (IS) was used and 66 per cent in seven studies where gastric lavage aspirates (GLA) were used.
Pooled specificity of Xpert MTB/RIF against culture as the reference standard was over 98 per cent."
In the case of culture-negative specimens, the pooled sensitivity against clinical TB as the reference was very low at four per cent for ES or IS and 15 per cent for GLA.
"It is likely that the apparent poor performance of Xpert was the result of a clinical TB reference standard that lacked specificity," the policy update notes.
Xpert's sensitivity
Xpert's sensitivity in ES/IS among children with smear-negative results ranged from 25 per cent to 86 per cent. But in the case of smear-positive results, the pooled sensitivity of Xpert in either ES or IS was 96 per cent. "The pooled sensitivity estimate in smear-positive children was 96 per cent and 55 per cent in smear-negative children. The findings were similar for Xpert in GLA, with an overall sensitivity of 95 per cent among smear-positive and 62 per cent among smear-negative children," the update states.
"Xpert MTB/RIF may be used rather than conventional microscopy and culture as the initial diagnostic test in all children presumed to have TB (conditional recommendation acknowledging resource implications, very low-quality evidence)," states the update.
"We have indeed performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of available data on Xpert MTB/RIF in children that contributed to the revised WHO policy guidance," Dr. Detjen said.
"The Xpert MTB/RIF Policy Guidance Update was reviewed by the WHO Guidelines Review Committee (GRC)," Dr. Christopher Gilpin, Scientist, Global TB programme, WHO, Geneva, said in an email to this Correspondent.
"The systematic reviews included studies with children below five years and stratified pooled sensitivity and specificity estimates for Xpert MTB/RIF (in expectorated and induced sputum) were determined for children aged 0-4 and 5-15 years. Xpert MTB/RIF in gastric lavage aspirates estimated accuracy for 0-4 year age group only," Dr. Gilpin stated.
"Xpert performs clearly superiorly to smear microscopy but is not good in children that are culture negative," Dr. Detjen noted.
She also pointed out other positive outcomes that would come once Xpert is made widely available. "It will increase the number of confirmed TB cases and can detect drug resistance. Health-care workers may actually start taking sputum specimens from children since the new tool is certainly more promising than microscopy. Currently, specimens are often not even taken in places where the only test that can be done is smear microscopy," she pointed out.
Fewer TB bacilli needed
The reason why Xpert performs much better than microscopy is because fewer TB bacilli are required to be present in the sputum sample. If Xpert's lower limit of detection is 131 colony forming units (CFU)/ml, and culture's is 10-100 CFU/ml, it is much higher in the case of smear microscopy.
But Xpert is very unlikely to become available in India for contact screening of children. There are currently 32 Xpert diagnostic machines and the government is in the process of procuring 300 more. But these are only for testing drug-resistant TB.
(The Correspondent is a recipient of the 2013 REACH Lilly MDR-TB Partnership National Media Fellowship for Reporting on TB.)
Published in The Hindu on October 31, 2013
Contact screening, Dr. Anne Detjen, Gene Xpert, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Isoniazid, paediatric TB, Paediatric TB, Sputum samples, sputum smear microscopy, The Lancet, Tuberculosis, WHO, World Health Organisation
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Workers' compensation rate decreases are encouraging, but may not translate into lower prices for employers right away.
Workers' compensation rates are finally beginning to reverse an upwards trend. Fifteen out of 20 rate and advisory loss cost filings submitted by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) so far this year have displayed decreases. Nine out of 10 filings submitted in the risk assigned market have also reflected decreasing rates.
Those decreases, however, may not translate into lower prices for employers right away.
"At our annual conference, we use certain buzzwords. A couple years ago, we said the numbers were 'conflicted.' Last year we called them 'encouraging.' This year they are 'balanced,'" said Peter Burton, senior executive for state relations at NCCI.
Rate changes in NCCI-rated states range from an increase of 6.8 percent in D.C. to a decrease of 10.4 percent in Kansas. While a handful have posted increases or no change at all, the majority will propose rate reductions going into 2015.
The price that companies ultimately end up paying will be determined by their respective risk profiles. Those with positive profiles will reap the benefits of the decreased rates, while those with poor risk profiles could end up paying more.
Regulators, Silverstein said, file their rates based on results from preceding years, but insurers will ultimately price their products to anticipate future fluctuations as well.
Nonetheless, the rate decreases are encouraging signs of a softening and more competitive workers' comp marketplace.
The improving economy is partly to thank. Rising employment means bigger payrolls and bigger premiums. $42 million in workers' comp premiums have been written this cycle, which runs from July 1 to the end of next June, according to Burton.
"This is the third year in a row it's gone up," he said.
Good underwriting results have also contributed, as well as a decline in injury rates. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "No private industry sector experienced an increase in the rate of injuries and illnesses in 2012." The injury and illness incidence rate for 2012 was about 3.4 cases per 100 full-time workers, which "continues the pattern of statistically significant declines that, with the exception of 2011, occurred annually for the last decade." According to Burton, some states have seen injury rates fall by as much as 58 percent.
"The frequency of loss is down," Silverstein said. "We experienced that with our clients, and it's now being recognized by the rating agencies." As the economy improves, however, frequency could potentially climb up again alongside rising employment rates.
Medical and indemnity cost increases are also slowing down, contributing to the trend. Medical costs have risen an average of three percent, down from seven percent increases in past years; indemnity payments have risen only two percent, down from consistent five percent increases over the past 10 years.
The growing popularity of closed formularies could also be contributing to reduced medical costs, Silverstein said. Closed formularies deny coverage for any drugs not included in the program, such as brand name prescriptions for which cheaper, generic versions exist. Early results from states that have adopted them show reduced costs associated with prescription drugs.
Non–NCCI rated states are witnessing the same trend.
In April, the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance and Labor & Industry announced a 5.15 percent workers' compensation rate reduction.
In California, the Workers' Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) governing committee voted on Sept. 4 to reduce the rates originally recommended in its mid-August Pure Premium Rate Filing. The vote was based on the WCIRB Actuarial Committee's review of new insurer experience complied in late June which shows "lower than anticipated loss development in the second quarter and some moderation in the 2013 indemnity claim frequency growth," according to a statement from the Bureau.
The amendment to the filing proposes premium rates that average $2.77 per $100 of payroll, down from $2.86 per $100 that was recommended in August. Even with the decrease, however, the new rate is $0.20, or 7.9 percent higher than the overall industry average of $2.57 as of July 1, 2014.
Some states will see much more significant decreases. Oregon's base rate, for example, will decrease by an average of 5.3 percent next year, on top of a 7.6 percent decline in 2014. Employers will pay an average of only $1.27 per $100 of payroll in 2015, seven cents down from 2014.
As Okla. Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak said, "When employers pay less for workers' compensation insurance, they can more easily grow their business, hire additional workers and expand local economies." Over the past two years, Oklahoma has decreased its loss cost levels by about 22 percent.


SARASOTA, Fla. - Orioles pitchers and catchers report to the Ed Smith Stadium complex today, an official date that doesn't preclude anyone from showing up early.
The place isn't surrounded by a moat - unless there's heavy rain, because it's Florida and a little flooding is required by state law. Security guards will allow entrance to employees.
The days of players waiting until the final hours or just phoning their manager with confirmation that they're "in town" began to wane after the Orioles moved their spring home to Sarasota. No one rushed to Fort Lauderdale Stadium, which featured a cramped clubhouse, tiny trainers' room with zero privacy from the media and a tent in the parking lot that served as a weight room.
It's drastically different in Sarasota. The amenities can spoil a well-traveled veteran, let alone a youngster in his first or second camp. Everything is top-notch. The food room should be Zagat rated.
Former manager Buck Showalter used to joke - I think he was joking - that some rehabbing players grew too comfortable here and didn't seem in a hurry to come off the disabled list. The underwater treadmill and the whirlpools made it hard to leave.
"We need to get him out of Sarasota," he'd say.
Current and former players have bought homes in the area. Position players aren't due to report until Sunday, but plenty of them will be unpacked this week.
Manager Brandon Hyde learned how to navigate the facility during last month's minicamp and surely can envision how workouts will unfold on the back fields. Including the "little field" named after Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver, the artificial turf field and the replica Camden Yards field.
I've been asked in interviews and by friends and fans how Hyde will run spring training compared to Showalter. Will he be hands-on, though maybe without the trademark fungo bat that Showalter carried? Will the instruction be a collaborative effort, like pretty much everything else?
We have no way of knowing until we watch it. Hyde hasn't managed in the majors and there isn't a pattern to follow.
Will Tim Cossins' catching instruction differ in any way from the methods of former bench coach John Russell? Stay tuned.
Arnie Beyeler's outfield instruction? José Flores' infield instruction? The players who worked under former coaches Wayne Kirby and Bobby Dickerson can compare and contrast.
No one should rush to judgment. Just hustle on the basepaths.
I'm not certain if one field will be a gathering spot for lectures on analytics or if that's going to happen in the meeting room. The latter seems more ideal for PowerPoint presentations, but players will need to carry the data outdoors.
But seriously, I don't know what to expect in the mornings and afternoons that follow besides times that the clubhouse opens to the media and players take the field for the pre-workout stretch. Hyde and executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias will be available for questions later today.
They can talk about outfielder Eric Young Jr., signed to a minor league deal with a spring training invitation, and pitcher Nate Karns, signed to a major league deal and given the opportunity to win a spot in the rotation.
Young gives off a Michael Bourn vibe to me. Hide the football.
Elias won't lay out all of his roster plans, especially since the market can influence how he reacts, but he's going to stress again the importance of evaluating young players in the organization and minimize the chances of handing out big multi-year contracts. The Orioles won't commit beyond one year.
Karns might have received the last major league deal offered by the club, but nothing is certain in the second week of February except for report dates.


like. I know I walked his council district.
Council District 1 candidates, who are the city council candidates for council district 1, they got a forum, mayoral did not, candidate Liz Adams. WS...You?
Council District 1 candidates, who are the candidates for city council district 1, why did these candidates get a forums, and Mayoral Candidates got the shaft.., like. I personally walked hundreds of Denver streets to gather signatures so that my name would be included on the ballot for the May 5, 2015 Mayoral elections. One question I heard over and over again was, "When are the Debates?
Council District 1 candidates. I told voters to go to Denver Decides for the locations, date and times. Unfortunately, Mayor Hancock refuses to debate the other Mayoral candidates on the ballot.
City and County of Denver District 1 Candidates Information.