One safety standard
Every Zion Marine job runs under one Diving Safe Practices Manual, built on U.S. and international commercial diving standards. Same manual in Tennessee, same manual in Acajutla. Where local rules apply, we follow those too.
What the manual is built on
Five U.S. standards govern every dive:
OSHA 29 CFR 1910 Subpart T
The federal commercial diving standard: personnel, depth, gas mixes, decompression and logs.
In practice: nobody enters the water without reserve air, comms to the surface and a supervisor who signs the plan.
OSHA 29 CFR 1926 Subpart Y
Diving in construction: heavy rigging, cranes, cutting and welding.
In practice: cranes, cutting and welding underwater follow a written procedure, not habit.
ADCI Consensus Standards
The commercial diving industry standard. Our divers are ADCI certified.
In practice: every diver holds a certification you can verify.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers EM 385-1-1
The Corps of Engineers safety manual for dams, ports and dredging.
In practice: at dams and intakes the gate is locked, tagged and verified before the first dive.
U.S. Navy Diving Manual
U.S. Navy decompression tables and procedures, the reference the industry uses worldwide.
In practice: the decompression tables we use are the same ones the U.S. Navy uses.
What we require on the Tennessee River we require at Acajutla and at Cerrón Grande. The site changes. The standard doesn't.
What the client sees on site
On every project, the Zion Marine supervisor has this ready and in front of the client:
Site specific emergency action plan
Hyperbaric physician on call, receiving hospital, transport route and nearest hyperbaric chamber identified and confirmed before the first dive. On deep work, the decompression chamber, chamber operator and diving medical technician are on the barge, not on call.
Daily pre dive meeting
The whole crew, every day, before anyone enters the water: what we're doing, what can go wrong and how much bottom time we have.
Differential pressure (ΔP) checklist
At dams, intakes and powerhouses: lockout tagout, gate seals verified and suction eliminated before anyone enters the water.
Equipment checks and daily logs
Equipment and life support checked before every dive. Dive and field logs current and open to the client.
Who goes in the water
Every job has a qualified supervisor on site. Our divers are ADCI certified. Between the three of us who run this company, we have more than 65 years in the water and at the head of crews on dams, ports and bridges.
Request a safety review for your project
Let's go through the job, the differential pressure risks and what the emergency plan needs.
Technical reply in under 24 business hours.