Commercial Diving Operations
This section covers operational procedures, planning frameworks, and safety considerations for commercial diving operations. Content is written for divers, supervisors, and operational personnel who need to understand how diving operations work in practice.
Scope
This section addresses:
- Surface-supplied diving — Equipment, procedures, and operational considerations
- Saturation diving — Overview of systems and operational frameworks (not medical instruction)
- Dive planning & execution — Pre-dive planning, risk assessment, and operational execution
- Decompression theory — High-level concepts and operational implications (non-medical)
- Emergency procedures — Frameworks and response structures (not step-by-step rescue)
- Human factors & fatigue — Operational considerations for diver performance
- Dive logs & records — Traceability, auditability, and operational documentation
What This Section Is Not
- Medical instruction — We do not provide medical advice, treatment protocols, or detailed decompression schedules
- Rescue procedures — We document frameworks and response structures, not step-by-step rescue instructions
- Training materials — While useful for training, this is reference documentation, not a training curriculum
Key Principles
- Operational reality — Procedures reflect how diving actually works offshore, not idealized scenarios
- Audit-worthiness — All procedures are documented in a way suitable for regulatory review
- Failure modes — We explicitly document what can go wrong and how operations degrade
- Responsibility boundaries — Clear delineation of who is responsible for what
Topics
- Surface-Supplied Diving Systems
- Saturation Diving Overview
- Dive Planning & Risk Assessment
- USN Dive Tables — Official U.S. Navy Diving Manual Revision 7 decompression tables
- No-Decompression Limits (Tables 9-7 & 2A-1) — Air diving NDL with interactive lookup
- Decompression Theory (Operational)
- Emergency Response Frameworks
- Human Factors in Diving Operations
- Dive Logs & Operational Records
Pages in this section
11
- Commercial Dive Logs & Operational RecordsWhat must be recorded in commercial diving logs, how long records must be kept, and how to maintain audit-worthy dive documentation. Covers IMCA, ADCI, and regulatory requirements with a free printable dive log template.
- Decompression Theory (Operational)Practical decompression theory for dive planning, table use, and decompression sickness prevention
- Dive Planning & Risk AssessmentOperational frameworks for dive planning, risk assessment, and execution
- Emergency Response FrameworksOperational frameworks for emergency response, not step-by-step rescue procedures
- Human Factors in Diving OperationsFatigue, communication, crew resource management, and human error in commercial diving
- Saturation Diving OverviewSaturation diving systems, bell diving procedures, and long-duration deep work
- Surface-Supplied Diving SystemsEquipment, procedures, and operational considerations for surface-supplied diving operations
- USN Air Dive Tables — U.S. Navy Diving Manual Rev 7Complete U.S. Navy air decompression tables (Revision 7) with no-decompression limits, repetitive dive procedures, and interactive NDL lookup. The authoritative reference for commercial and naval surface-supplied air diving operations.
- USN Dive Tables — U.S. Navy Diving Manual Revision 7Official U.S. Navy Diving Manual Revision 7 decompression tables for air and helium-oxygen diving. Complete no-decompression limits, repetitive dive procedures, and mixed gas schedules used worldwide in commercial and naval diving.
- USN Helium-Oxygen Dive Tables — U.S. Navy Diving Manual Rev 7Complete U.S. Navy helium-oxygen (HeO2) and mixed gas decompression tables (Revision 7) for surface-supplied and rebreather diving. Authoritative reference for deep commercial diving operations from 60 to 380+ FSW.
- USN No-Decompression Limits — Table 9-7 & 2A-1 (Air Diving)Complete U.S. Navy no-decompression limits (NDL) for air diving. Table 9-7 covers standard depths 10–190 FSW; Table 2A-1 covers shallow water 30–50 FSW in 1-foot increments. Free public reference from USN Diving Manual Revision 7.