Commercial diving is an essential yet risky job if not executed correctly. There are a number of tasks that require professional commercial divers, whether it be underwater construction, welding, maintenance, repairs, replacements, retrieval, deep sea exploration, discovery and much more. Ensuring you possess the necessary skills, knowledge and experience is essential to the success of your diving career. There are numerous elements of diving that must be ‘ticked off’ before undertaking your commercial diving job.

This article will delve deep into the factors you must be aware of and have a comprehensive understanding before diving in head first.

Here are 10 Helpful Tips Before You Start Commercial Diving:

• A Gear Checklist

Regardless of what your diving expedition entails it is of the utmost importance to ensure you are fully equipt with all the necessary equipment and gear to guarantee your safety, the safety of others and your ability to complete the task at hand successfully. The best way to achieve this is to have a comprehensive checklist before every dive.

• Check Your Surroundings Once You First Enter The Water

Another key element is to be aware of your surroundings before you submerge in the water. How does your gear feel, is everything where it should be, is your diving partner okay, if you are in the open ocean – is there a current?

• Safety Checks

Just like checking your surroundings, it is essential to a successful and safe dive that you check that everything is as it should be and you are prepared for any unpredictabilities.

• Ensure Buoyancy Control

This can be achieved through the following tips and techniques: minimise weighting, suspending a weight bag and adding and subtracting air in short and balanced bursts. Another great way to gauge neutral buoyancy is to let your body go into a relaxed state, and go limp.

• Master Reducing Your Air Consumption

One of the first aspects to master in commercial diving is to reduce the amount of air you consume during your dive. Breathing slowly and deeply and practicing diving methods and techniques that align with reducing your air consumption will maintain your energy levels as well as your safety.

• Good Communication

Having good communication with your diving partner is vital to the safety and success of your Commercial Diving task. Not only will you boost your confidence to get the job done correctly but you will also give peace of mind to your buddy that you have their back. Working as a cohesive team and communicating effectively with your diving partner is essential for every single dive.

• Outline and Map Out The Dive Site

Make sure you have a detailed plan and are prepared before every dive through outligned and mapping out your dive site. Ensure all divers and dive partners have a comprehensive understanding of both the brief and how to navigate the dive site.

• Stay Warm

Hyperthermia is a definite risk when it comes to commercial diving. The best way to avoid this and stay as warm as possible is to ensure your wetsuit is of high quality with no areas exposed to leakage. Thermal protection is essential to your health safety and wellbeing both during and in between diving. It is a lot more common for divers to lose more heat in between dives and travelling in between dive sites. During these ‘wait times’ it is important to cover up from head to toe to minimise the loss of heat. If you find yourself shivering uncontrollably this can be the first sign of hypothermia and will need to be addressed immediately.

• Dive Sign Knowledge

As you are unable to verbally communicate underwater it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of all the dive signals. This aligns with having good communication with your dive partners and will reduce risk of safety hazards, allow efficient and effective job completion and alert others if unpredictable issues arise. Conveying messages through appropriate hand signals is one of the most crucial aspects of commercial diving to master.

• Always Be Aware

Of your surroundings, of your diving partner, of your dive plan, of hand signals, of any possible risks and hazards. Being aware of everything that is going on with yourself, others, the task at hand and what is going on around you is one of the most important elements to any commercial diving job.

Author Bio:

Lisa Eclesworth is a notable and influential lifestyle writer. She is a mom of two and a successful homemaker. She loves to cook and create beautiful projects with her family. She writes informative and fun articles that her readers love and enjoy. You can directly connect with her on email – [email protected] or visit her website www.lisaeclesworth.com