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Underwater diving work and medical certificates

Introduction
Who has to hold a medical certificate?
Where can you get a certificate of medical fitness to dive?
What details must be included on the certificate?
What do employers and self-employed people have to do?

Introduction

People who do underwater diving work are exposed to physical conditions which create risks to their health and safety. These risks are increased if the diver is not medically fit to dive.

The best way to minimise exposure to these risks is for diving workers to have an annual medical examination.

An examination can reveal medical conditions which prevent a person from being declared medically fit to dive. For medical reasons, a doctor may also issue a certificate with limitations on the diving a person can do.

Annual medical examinations are also useful for monitoring a person¿s health in case a medical condition develops as a result of long-term exposure to underwater diving work.

Who has to hold a medical certificate?

The Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008 requires employers, self-employed people and workers who do any type of underwater diving work to hold a current certificate of medical fitness to dive.

This applies to all types of diving work, for example, underwater filming for a movie, fish collecting, scrubbing the hull of a ship, or conducting recreational diving.

A current certificate is one that is less than 12 months old and has not expired, been revoked or superseded.

Where can you get a certificate of medical fitness to dive?

The certificate must be issued by a doctor who has satisfactorily completed training in diving medicine approved by the Board of Censors of the South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society (SPUMS).

This training includes the following courses:

There may be other courses in diving medicine approved by SPUMS. These courses will also be covered by the regulation.

SPUMS can provide details of its members who have completed approved training. Also, there are other doctors who have completed one of the above courses but are not members of SPUMS.

You can also ring your local medical centre and ask if any doctors in the area have done SPUMS approved training courses.

What details must be included on the certificate?

The certificate must show the following:

If the person is under the age of 18, the doctor may issue a certificate. However, the certificate must show either:

What do employers and self-employed people have to do?

It is the employer's responsibility to make sure his or her diving workers hold a current certificate of medical fitness to dive.

If you are an employer:

If you are an employer who is going to do underwater diving work, you can only do so if:

A self-employed person can only do underwater diving work if:


For further information

Telephone: 1300 369 915
Website: http://www.deir.qld.gov.au/workplace/index.htm