Commercial Diving

This book is for the person who is considering a career in commercial diving or who is enrolled in commercial diving school. It presents the facts, both good and bad, about careers in commercial diving. It covers all aspects of the field, from choosing a school, to applying for a job, and how to work your way up in the industry.

The 6th Edition of the Commercial Diver Training Manual represents an almost total rewrite. Where previous editions were designed to be utilized in conjunction either with the NOAA Diving Manual or the U.S. Navy Diving Manual, the 6thEdition has been written as a stand-alone work that covers history, physics, physiology, diving medicine, and first aid in addition to those chapters devoted to diving technique, diving equipment, and working underwater. This manual is presented with the understanding that fully qualified instructors experienced in underwater work will provide any further explanation required by the reader. At the same time, the intent was to provide a manual to enhance both the theoretical and the practical training of the diver, with a view to providing graduates that are more knowledgeable and well informed in their chosen trade, performing their assigned tasks in a safe and productive manner. To that end, this manual strives to present the following: Diving physics in a clear, concise manner The latest theory and procedure in physiology and diving medicine The latest in practice and procedure both inland and offshore The most commonly used diving and support equipment accepted for use in today's industry While it is understood it would require several volumes to address every conceivable task performed on every type of underwater project employing commercial divers, this manual endeavors to cover the most commonly performed tasks and the most common underwater operations. By presenting these more common projects and tasks in detail, it is hoped the reader will be better informed and better prepared for a career underwater. In addition, by further illustrating both technique and safety concerns with case studies and personal accounts from the author's career, the manual shows the reader these are more than just words being presented: suggestions help the reader become more proficient and safety guidelines keep the reader from injury or death.

Updates in the 6th Edition - Comprehensive rewrite can be used as stand-alone reference - Extensive index - Easy-to-read formatting - Color photos/tables/figures added - Colorful book cover ABOUT THE BOOK The 6th Edition of the Commercial Diver Training Manual represents an almost total rewrite. Where previous editions were designed to be utilized in conjunction either with the NOAA Diving Manual or the U.S. Navy Diving Manual, the 6th Edition has been written as a stand-alone work that covers history, physics, physiology, diving medicine, and first aid in addition to those chapters devoted to diving technique, diving equipment, and working underwater. This manual is presented with the understanding that fully qualified instructors experienced in underwater work will provide any further explanation required by the reader. At the same time, the intent was to provide a manual to enhance both the theoretical and the practical training of the diver, with a view to providing graduates that are more knowledgeable and well informed in their chosen trade, performing their assigned tasks in a safe and productive manner. To that end, this manual strives to present the following: - Diving physics in a clear, concise manner - The latest theory and procedure in physiology and diving medicine - The latest in practice and procedure both inland and offshore - The most commonly used diving and support equipment accepted for use in today’s industry While it is understood it would require several volumes to address every conceivable task performed on every type of underwater project employing commercial divers, this manual endeavors to cover the most commonly performed tasks and the most common underwater operations. By presenting these more common projects and tasks in detail, it is hoped the reader will be better informed and better prepared for a career underwater. In addition, by further illustrating both technique and safety concerns with case studies and personal accounts from the author’s career, the manual shows the reader these are more than just words being presented: suggestions help the reader become more proficient and safety guidelines keep the reader from injury or death.

“The 7th Edition of the Commercial Diver Training Manual continues to fill the gap between learning through field experience and learning through entry-level commercial diver training. Our commercial diving students and graduates have been well served since 2016 by the author’s meticulous and thorough approach to making vast field experiences and safety come alive in the 6 th Edition, and once again in this revised 7th edition. It continues to be a leading textbook in our training, due to its technical accuracy, current content, photos, and illustrations. Safety and efficiency are pinnacle traits that any successful working diver must learn in their training and constantly apply in the field. Safety is not a simply a rule book, it is a state of mind. Hal Lomax’s approach to this and sharing his knowledge with all levels of divers has made our industry safer and advanced it entirely. At the very core of commercial diver training are two essential objectives: Going up and down in the water column safely and performing useful and effective work underwater. This textbook continues to provide both objectives into a current and well written resource for the entire industry. It remains a must for anyone’s library involved in commercial diving.” Don Barthelmess, Professor Emeritus, Santa Barbara City College Marine Diving Technology Department

Join author Norbert Weissinger as he narrates his most memorable dives, starting with his first scuba dive while attending college, to the grueling work in the Gulf of Mexico as a commercial oilfield diver. Experience the thrills, terrors, mystifying beauty, and awful monotony of life at sea. Meet the colorful and eccentric personalities that risk their lives daily in the development of offshore oilfields. Commercial divers go under water every day to earn a living. Strangely, they enjoy the abuse of the sea, and if they survive a ten-year career, they can take home a wealth of memories about a world that few have ever seen. Bottom Time is filled with travel anecdotes, dive narratives, and vivid descriptions of the undersea world. While working on the sea floor was sometimes lonely and frightening, the author experienced sublime moments when he felt privileged to be a visitor to an alien realm. The triggerfish, tarpon, groupers, sea turtles, and barracuda became his friends, and he wished that bottom time would never end. After spending countless hours under water, the author found not only beauty and exotic marine life, but inspiration. Life spent on the bottom is truly living in the moment, where past and future dissolve, and nothing matters but a breath.