Why NOT to be a safety Diver

[Griffo]

Wasn't sure where to put this, but the following story really makes me wonder what it takes to be a public safety diver.. I bet they were drawing straws to stay out of the water for this one!

Grim death: Body found in sewage tank | News.com.au

*Race to find man who vanished at sewage plant

*Divers feel their way through sludge to find worker

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national/man...me/story-e6frfkvr-1226211255631#ixzz1fHOpsIgH
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A MAN’S body has been recovered from a huge sewage tank at Eastern Treatment Plant in Bangholme, in Melbourne’s southeast. Victoria Police and WorkSafe confirmed that the body was found by police divers just after 8pm.
The 52-year-old Endeavour Hills man - who was working for Melbourne Water - was last seen taking samples from the pits at the Eastern Treatment Plant at Bangholme, in Melbourne's southeast, at 7.15am.
Authorities implemented a complicated emergency operation to empty a 1.5 million litre sewage tank.
Police search and rescue dive squad members worked with the CFA and Melbourne Water to find the man.
The tragic accident follows a shocking spate of workplace fatalities across the state, with eight deaths in the past 11 days.
Detective Sen-Constable Dean Hedge said the matter was being regarded as an industrial accident.
It is understood the man fell in a pumping system where the raw sewerage flows at about 6m per second.
“We’re conducting a recovery operation to look for him assuming he’s down there," Sen-Constable Hedge said earlier.
“It’s a large area they’re searching, they can’t see in there and it’s all being done by feel.’‘
Sen-Constable Hedge said the man was working alone at the time of his disappearance.
The man’s family has been contacted.
WorkSafe investigators attended the scene.
Authorities say the lab technician may have fallen into the massive tank soon after 7am as he conducted routine tests of liquid in the tanks.
Colleagues raised the alarm at about 8.45am after realising the man was missing, spotting his work equipment still at the side of the tank.
Soon afterwards, specialist divers from Melbourne Water, CFA, SES, police and WorkSafe investigators arrived at the scene on Thompsons Rd.
The giant treatment tank is among many that are built into the ground and is about 5m deep.
Melbourne Water confirmed the man had been sampling liquid in the tanks.
“One of our subcontractors was carrying out routine sampling works at 7.15am and has failed to return from the tank area to the on-site laboratory,” the statement said.
The Eastern Treatment Plant treats about 40 per cent of Melbourne’s sewage, about 330 million litres a day – with waste water coming from the city's southeast and eastern suburbs.

Read more: Grim death: Body found in sewage tank | News.com.au
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[Greyhound]

Euch! Let's hope they were wearing full-face masks, at least...

 

[Tortuga68]

.....

 

[Phil_C]

That's one regulator inneed of a very thorough service !

Steam cleaner anyone?

Yuk

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I work at a plant like that one, and have been jokingly asked many times whether I'd be interested in a nice dive in one of the digester tanks.

What becomes immediately obvious to me reading the initial story is that the victim violated a very basic safety principle by not wearing a fall restraint harness ... this is fundamental safety equipment in this line of work, and would have saved his life. At our plant we have monthly safety meetings where operations and maintenence personnel watch videos and have discussions about safety protocols and techniques ... and the reasons for them. Every month someone brings up what a pain in the arse it is to follow all these procedures ... and workers are sometimes cited for ignoring them.

This relates DIRECTLY to scuba practices where people who have been doing things a certain way for years sometimes neglect the basics because they feel they're not needed ... they've done this thousands of times, and nothing ever went wrong.

Many of the discussions we have here on ScubaBoard revolve around why certain practices are needed ... or in the view of some, not needed. People do (xxx type of dives) every day in violation of accepted standards and practices, and live to talk about it.

Sure they do ... I'd bet this fellow wasn't doing anything different than what he did every day ... until something went wrong. Then ... without the safety harness ... his lack of following a basic protocol resulted in his death.

The question here shouldn't be "why be a safety diver" ... it should be "why was a safety diver needed" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Malpaso]

I worked a brewery once when a worker fell in a vat of beer. While we were searching for him, he climbed out three times to take a leak.

 

[Mark Derail]

I almost spat coffee on my keyboard...

I worked a brewery once when a worker fell in a vat of beer. While we were searching for him, he climbed out three times to take a leak.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I worked a brewery once when a worker fell in a vat of beer. While we were searching for him, he climbed out three times to take a leak.

Reminds me of that old WC Fields line ... "Drowned in a vat of whiskey. Death ... where is thy sweet sting?"

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Thanshin]

poodiver.....

I wonder how does one get certified for that.

The mask clearing exercise alone must be a bitch.

I wouldn't show around a PADI Poo Diver card.

 

[Randy43068]

Where's Mike Rowe when we need him?

"Mike, get in there, find the poor unlucky guy, and Mike... don't take **** from anyone."