What are the main hazards that face commercial divers working in the oil and gas industry?
Phil Newsum. There are many hazards that face our industry. However, there have been many lessons learned that have helped mitigate these identified hazards. The main hazards that have resulted in the greatest number of fatalities and traumatic injuries have come from differential pressure related situations and explosions occurring as a result of underwater burning. Differential pressure (Delta P) situations can present themselves in five different scenarios: when water levels between adjoining areas vary and are attempting to equalise; when water is adjacent to a gaseous void at lower pressure than the water pressure; when water is mechanically drawn through intakes or pumps; when water is mechanically drawn towards propellers, or other types of thrusters on ships; and when positive pressure is released from high-pressure subsea wells or pipelines. Explosions occurring from underwater burning are a result of hydrogen created as a by-product of the electricity and pure oxygen used in
