Dive Team Size

The number of people in the dive team will depend on the risk assessment which must take account of the:

• diving method;
• nature of the work;
• depth of the dive;
• diving plant and equipment being used; and
• number of hours being worked per day.

Sufficient personnel should be available to carry out the diving operation safely and to operate plant and equipment. Additional people may also be required to operate any boats and to assist in emergencies.

Minimum Dive Team Numbers

Outlined below are the minimum team sizes (for benign conditions) for diving that falls under the Code of Practice for Inland Diving and Inshore Diving. The acceptability of these numbers should be established from the risk assessment and included in the diving project plan.

• For Surface Supplied Diving the minimum team is five people - a diving supervisor, a working diver, a standby diver, a tender for the working diver and a tender for the standby diver.
• For tethered SCUBA Diving the minimum team is four people - a diving supervisor, a working diver, a standby diver and a diver’s tender.
• For free SCUBA, the minimum team is three people - a diving supervisor who also acts as a diver’s tender, a working diver and an in-water standby diver.

Additional personnel may also be required based on the risk assessment, for example to operate plant or equipment or to assist in an emergency situation.