Underwater diving toolbox talk
Read it out at the pre-start or a toolbox meeting, talk through the questions, and have everyone sign on. It's built from our underwater diving page and the 4 SafetyDocs templates that cover it.
- Site
- Date
- Presented by
What it is
Diving work with breathing apparatus that can cause loss of breathing gas, decompression sickness, blackout, cold exposure or injury to a diver.
Controls to check, most effective first
- Use a competent diving contractor, and have divers hold the qualifications and medical clearance the work requires.
- Prepare a dive plan covering depth, bottom time, decompression, emergency procedures and the dive team's roles before diving.
- Use a surface-supplied air system with a standby diver in place of free diving where the task allows, and keep a backup breathing gas supply.
- Keep a standby diver, a dive supervisor and a surface vessel tender on duty throughout, with agreed communication signals.
- Display dive flags and keep boats and other water users clear of the dive site, and tell the harbour or waterway authority.
- Keep a recompression chamber and emergency oxygen within reach, and have a procedure for treating decompression illness and cold exposure.
Questions for the crew
- Where could underwater diving come up on this job today?
- The most effective control is: “Use a competent diving contractor, and have divers hold the qualifications and medical clearance the work requires”. Can we do that here? If not, why not?
- Which controls for underwater diving are missing or not working on this site?
- When would you stop work because of underwater diving, and who would you tell?
- How do we report a hazard, a near miss or an incident on this job?
Sign-on record
Everyone who attended signs below. Keep it with your toolbox talk records.
| Name | Company | Signature |
|---|---|---|
A starting point for a talk, not a SWMS or a risk assessment. Add what's particular to your site and crew.