Canadian Association of Diving Contractors

From CBC News Posted: Jul 20, 2016 7:44 AM CT Last Updated: Jul 20, 2016 7:44 AM CT

Diving safety a concern in Sask., says Canadian association
‘We want to make sure that the divers come home at the end of the day,’ says Doug Elsey

Working under water can be dangerous, and while there are national standard codes to keep divers safe, not all Canadian provinces have signed on.

Saskatchewan is one of those places — even though both its neighbouring provinces of Manitoba and Alberta have.

‘There’s diving that is going on that really isn’t obvious, I guess, to the normal person but it’s there.’
– Doug Elsey, Canadian Association of Diving Contractors

“We all want to get it right. We want to make sure that the divers come home at the end of the day and make a good career out of it,” said Doug Elsey, executive director of the Canadian Association of Diving Contractors.

Elsey said the association is lobbying for all provincial governments across the country to pass legislation to keep working divers safe by adopting the Canadian Standards Association’s diving safety code. It’s a set of guidelines that is updated every five years crafted by divers, educators and regulators.

Currently, only Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba and Alberta have enshrined in legislation the CSA diving standards.

Elsey said the push for change comes after a 39-year-old commercial diver from Dartmouth, N.S., was killed on the job on July 15, 2015. Commercial diver Luke Seabrook’s death is ‘catalyst for change’

Luke Seabrook was inspecting an underwater dam gate at the Nova Scotia Power plant in Annapolis Royal before he was sucked into a gap in the gate which should’ve been closed. The opening creates a powerful suction that traps divers — the water’s differential pressure is a hazard that divers call Delta P.
Luke Seabrook

Luke Seabrook had 5 years of experience as a commercial diver when he was killed on July 15, 2015 in Nova Scotia. (The Seabrook family)

Elsey said that although Saskatchewan’s diving scene isn’t clearly visible, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.

“You do have rivers, you do have lakes, you do have dams — there’s diving that is going on that really isn’t obvious, I guess, to the normal person, but it’s there,” he explained.

He said underwater work involving dams and the hydro electric facilities in the province goes on routinely.

“It may be the case that what doesn’t squeak doesn’t get oiled,” he said.
(With files from CBC’s The Afternoon Edition)