Amendments to the diving work regulations
Amendments have been made to Part 4.8 (Diving Work) of the Work Health and Safety (National Uniform Legislation) Regulations 2011. The amendments correct minor errors and inconsistencies in drafting and update references to the Australian Standards.
The following amendments commence on 21 August 2019.
Regulation 5
The definition of “fitness criteria” has been updated by replacing the references to “AS/NZS 2299.1:2007 - Occupational diving operations” with the most up-to-date standard “AS/NZS 2299.1:2015 - Occupational diving operations”.
Regulation 171
The title of regulation 171 has been amended by omitting the word “general” from “general qualifications”. This amendment clarifies that regulation 171 requires a person to have a certificate that demonstrates the person has competencies relevant to the type of general diving work to be carried out, rather than a general qualification relevant to all types of diving work.
Regulation 171(2)
Regulation 171(2) has been amended by replacing the words “limited diving work” with the words “limited scientific diving work”. This amendment corrects an accidental omission of the word “scientific”.
Regulation 171(3)
Regulation 171(3) has been amended by omitting the words “AS/NZ 4005.2: 2000 (Training and certification of recreational divers) or”. Recreational diving standard AS/NZ 4005.2 has been withdrawn by Standards Australia. In the absence of a clear equivalent, the relevant competencies for general diving work are specified in AS/NZS 2815 (Training and certification of occupational divers).
Regulation 171A
Regulation 171A has been amended by omitting the word “additional” from the title of regulation 171A, to reflect that regulation 171A requires that all persons carrying out general diving work must have acquired certain knowledge and skill.
Regulation 171A(1)
Sub-regulation 171A(1) has been amended by replacing the words “In addition to regulation 171, a person”, with the words “A person”. Sub-regulation 171A(1) requires that all persons carrying out general diving work must have acquired certain knowledge and skill. This amendment clarifies that the knowledge and skill is not always additional to the qualification requirement for general diving work in Regulation 171(1).
Regulation 171A(2)
Sub-regulation 171A(2) has been deleted. The wording of regulation 171A(2) as it stood exempted incidental diving work and limited scientific diving work from the knowledge and skill requirement in regulation 171A(1). This was an error and inconsistent with regulations 172 and 173, which specifically apply the requirements in regulation 171A to incidental diving work and limited scientific diving work.
Regulation 173
Regulation 173 has been rewritten completely to clarify the requirement for non-resident divers to have additional diving experience. Sub-regulation 173(1)(a) requires that a person must not carry out limited scientific diving work unless they have the training, qualification or experience referred to in regulation 171A. This requirement applies to Australian citizens, permanent residents, and divers not permanently resident in Australia (non-resident divers). Non-resident divers undertaking limited scientific diving work must also satisfy the competency requirements set out in sub-regulation 173(1)(b).
Regulations 183 and 184
The reference to diving standards for high risk diving work has been updated by replacing references to “AS/NZS 2299.1:2007 - Occupational diving operations” with the most up-to-date standard “AS/NZS 2299.1:2015 - Occupational diving operations”.