Testing requirements

[nadwidny]

Do the agencies require shops to have their air tested regularly anymore? I heard that PADI stopped the quarterly requirement a few years ago due to liability concerns and I believe that NAUI still requires quarterly but what about TDI/SDI, SSI, and the others? In my town of the 5 shops, 2 get it done yearly and one semi-annually. The other 2 don't test as far as I know.

 

[toddthecat]

Seems that PADI claimed it was a requirement in the last IRRA thing I saw. Odds of them actually checking? Zero.

 

[swamp diver]

PADI stopped requiring quarterly testing back in 2009 or thereabouts after settling in that double CO fatality case from Roatan. They now defer to the "local authority having jurisdiction" which in most tropical places means your own analyzers.

NAUI still has their code of ethics but there is absolutely no enforcement of the quarterly rule.
NAUI Code Of Ethics Affiliate

As for the other agencies the only one which requires quarterly testing to be sent to head office is ANDI but I have yet to find an ANDI shop in Canada. Not sure regarding GUE, TDI, IANTD, etc.

The only regulations for compressed air testing which may apply in Alberta would be your local MOL dive regulations. Here if a shop is filling bottles for fire halls, hazmat, etc. or has employees breathing the shop air then the shop would have to follow the CSA Z275.2 (or Z180.1 for fire halls) standard which requires biannual testing.

Pretty much a crap shoot out there now as this EPA diver lamented.
View attachment EPA Diver's Lament.pdf

Even the state of Florida has removed their quarterly testing requirements for dive shops in that state.

 

[nadwidny]

Pretty much a crap shoot out there now as this EPA diver lamented.
View attachment 166588

Thanks for all that. Pretty much confirms what I've heard through the grapevine.

Reading the .pdf one thing that came to mind is Holy crap. If a shop can't meet 1000ppm CO2 then there is a serious problem there.

 

[toddthecat]

If a shop can't meet 1000ppm CO2 then there is a serious problem there.

I'd be more worried about the CO myself....

 

[clownfishsydney]

It was always a pointless exercise, as air can be perfect one day and awful the next if the filters are exhausted.

 

[swamp diver]

It was always a pointless exercise, as air can be perfect one day and awful the next if the filters are exhausted.

It is not pointless if an air sample is pulled just after a new filter is installed and just before the old one is removed. Then you know the compressor over the life of the filter is providing breathable air. It is the sample just before the filter expires which is most important yet which is done the least often.

You are correct that should some compressor mechanical problem occur or a BBQ is lit under the air intake then all bets are off, but there is utility in doing periodic testing. Sure real-time testing is now available for all the parameters but there is no way the average struggling dive shop owner will afford this technology except for possibly CO.