Page 256 - Manual for Activities directed at the Underwater Cultural Heritage

Record keeping and logs
Records of the project diving operations are essential for documenting the flow of activities, and in many countries are also required by law. Records are necessary to demonstrate to the relevant overseeing authority that the technical requirements, as well as the health and safety concerns of the crew, were met during the course of the project. All paperwork associated with diving, the diving operations record, should be kept separate from other paperwork related to the project.
The records can be separated into two types: those collated prior to and those filled out during dive operations. The records that should be collated prior to the start of diving operations include:
- applicable legislation
- procedures, dive plan and risk assessment
- copies of qualifications of divers (diving and
first-aid certifications)
- medical records of divers
- list of diving and associated technical equipment
to be used on the project
- list of first-aid equipment
Records that should be kept in ‘real time’, whilst the project is taking place, include:
- timekeeping logs (dive times, maximum depths, surface intervals)
- equipment safety logs (if there is a problem with equipment, and the resolution)
- illness or injury records (what happened, to whom, and the treatment)
- daily confirmation check of diving equipment and safety equipment
- individual diver logs
- change record (a document that outlines the
changes made to any part of the diving plan and operations during the course of the project)
These records should initially be assembled by the dive supervisor of the project (see roles and chain of command, above). However, the ‘real time’ records,
255
10
Safety