Scuba divers want to learn from Norway
Chile’s salmon farms are facing a serious labour shortage. Last year the national maritime authority announced a change in legislation with respect to the occupational health and safety of scuba divers employed for salmon farming operations. The new legislation is nothing out of the ordinary compared to OHS regulations in other salmon farming countries, however for Chile, it translates into a dramatic increase in labour costs that until now salmon companies have not been concerned with. For many years and until today the salmon companies manage their daily underwater maintainence with two basic-level divers and one commercial diver per farm site. These divers breathe of off filtered air produced in compressors that are run by either gasoline or liquid gas motors, and the diving gear used is nothing more than the basic gear required for recreational diving. The new legislation requires among other things that all divers must use a full-face mask, a safety regulator, and that the person in charge of the air hose and compressor must be certified as an intermediate level diver, able to monitor diver safety parameters. Although the salmon companies in general are in full agreement with these changes, the problem besides added costs that they face is the inability of many basic-level divers to meet the technical requirements for certification as intermediate divers. And as the design of farms change towards the use of bigger and deeper cages, the amount of dive time decreases and the need for more divers to complete the work increases. Hector Vera, president of ARASEMAR A.G., the Association of Aquaculture Service Providers, will be on a technological transfer mission to Norway this month to learn how Norway addresses the issues of diver OHS. “We mustn’t forget that Norway is our model for everything we do. In Oslo we will meet with maritime authorities to learn about their legislative regulations on aquaculture licensing and operations, their experience with dive work on the farms, and see how this information can be applicable in Chile,” states Vera.
