Diving work: risks, approach and impact
Professional divers carry out work underwater every day. This involves civil works such as lock maintenance and underwater welding. But professional divers also work at the Ministry of Defence, Dutch Customs and the fire service.
'A diver needs to be in good physical shape and of sound mental health, as well as being well trained and having the required knowledge and skills.'
Scope of the field
Professional divers must be registered as such. Until 1 February 2025 they did not have to be registered, but they did have to be certified. Such a certificate was issued by a certifying body. At the end of 2023, 4,790 people had a valid personal certificate in the field of diving work. Every 4 years, they must be re-registered by a registering body.
| Valid certificates (31-12- 2023) | Certificates issued in 2023 | Certificates denied in 2023 |
Suspended (temporarily) |
Revoked (definitively) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,790 | 1,291 | 4 | 39 | 492 |
Risks in the system
The Netherlands Labour Authority monitors the proper functioning of the registration system for diving work. lt still sees the following risk in this system:
Prior to a dive, risks are not always identified. The risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E) and work instructions often do not give a complete picture of the risks. These risks include general risks (such as the condition of diving equipment), risks specific to the dive site (such as currents) and on-site risks (such as vessels).
Approach
Diving operations that are extra risky must be reported (Dutch) to the Labour Authority. In some of these diving operations, the Labour Authority carries out an inspection at the dive site. Besides inspecting, the Labour Authority works to keep diving work safe in other ways as well. It does this together with other parties in the registration system, including by periodically discussing developments and bottlenecks with the scheme manager and the registering bodies. The Labour Authority also actively brings risks, rules and incidents to divers' attention. For example, through a safety warning (Dutch) or article (Dutch).
Scope and impact
- In 2022, the Labour Authority carried out 15 inspections of diving operations. In 3 cases, risks had not been sufficiently identified or measures taken. To improve this in the future, the Labour Authority held a meeting with the diving company in 1 case and issued a warning in 2 cases.
- An inspection of diving work where volunteers were performing diving work for a foundation, personal certificates were missing and there was no diving team leader. The Labour Authority fined this foundation.
- Following a fatal accident involving a diving cylinder in 2022, the Labour Authority has once again highlighted the importance of proper diving equipment. This safety warning (Dutch) has been widely shared in the diving industry.