Commercial Divers
Building, fixing, welding and repairing – all 1000 feet beneath the waves. Commercial divers do normal construction activities in an extreme environment – making theirs a very dangerous job.
The job can take them all over the world, ask of them to do countless different assignments, and every day is unique. This job is exciting, adventurous, financially rewarding – and very dangerous. Commercial divers are trained professionals – they have to be so they can dive another day.
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Job description: Commercial divers repair, inspect and build underwater structures such as ships, rigs, bridges and piers. They can also take various measurements, assist police investigations and preform underwater photography. Commercial divers must be good mechanics and construction workers – the basic job is similar to mechanic and construction jobs inland – only the environment is different. Commercial divers place a strong emphasis on safety and preparation – every dive begins with a safety brief, and the work plan for the day is scrutinized due to the high cost and limitations of commercial diving. The dangerous nature of this job requires a professional and serious attitude, and commercial divers are all business when at work.
Work environment: This job is extremely varied – commercial divers can work in a wide range of environments and assignments, all over the world. Working on offshore oil rigs provides the highest salary, but involves being on the rig or a ship for months – anywhere around the world. Divers can also work in rivers, harbors and ports or large water tanks – these jobs usually allow divers to be at home every day. There are also divers in the Navy – they mainly do underwater construction jobs.
The job itself is done underwater, and involves wearing heavy, complex gear, being submerged for hours, and working with heavy, sometimes dangerous tools and machinery underwater, and often in dark, murky conditions. This job is physically demanding, and places strain on divers – from being underwater for many hours, repetitive dives and heavy equipment.
Commercial divers never operate alone, and they are part of a larger team that helps the diver prepare for the dive, and assists the diver during the dive itself – they check gauges, cables and communicate with the submerged diver.
Fatality rates: No reliable fatality rate could be found, but despite the inherit dangers, not many divers are injured – due to the extensive training and strict safety measures taken.
Gender: Although women can be commercial divers, the majority are male .
What makes it a dangerous job: Commercial divers face 2 major dangers – dive related injuries and tool/machinery related injuries. Dive related injuries are usually caused by rapid or uncontrolled ascents to the surface, which can result in the “bends” – forcing divers to spend many hours in decompression tanks.
The other danger comes from the underwater work itself – underwater welders for example must make difficult welds, in difficult conditions with dangerous tools.
Hours / Lifestyle: Commercial diver can have various lifestyles, depending on the type of underwater work they are doing. Some may be away from home for months, working on oil rigs or other locations which are difficult to access. Others may be at home every day, but work hours can vary – this is not a typical 9 to 5 job. Also, commercial divers may find themselves out of work for several months, and must plan accordingly.
Pay: Commercial divers salaries vary as well, depending on experience, capabilities, position in the team, and the assignment. Generally, the highest paying commercial diving jobs are on offshore oil rigs, with divers making $100,000 – $200,000 annually. Inland divers make considerably less – around $100 a day – in contrast to oil rig divers who can make $1000 or more daily. However – the salary can increase – according to the danger and complexity of the job. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that in 2010, the average annual salary for commercial divers was $56,400, or $27.12 per hour – but this is does not reflect on the true salary rates in this profession.
Requirements: Commercial divers have to be able to physically withstand diving in great depths (1000 feet) for long periods of time on a daily basis. Also, they must have strong mechanical and construction abilities, as this is the core of their work. Good divers will be able to plan ahead each element of their dive, and improvise quickly when needed. Divers rely strongly on teamwork – so any applicant must be a strong team member, and have the ability to fit in the commercial divers comradely.
Training: Commercial divers usually complete a commercial diving course – which lasts roughly 6-7 months. Trainees are schooled in medicine, physics, welding, HAZMAT and open water deep dives. Alternatively, the US Navy trains divers for underwater construction and demolition, and after military service these divers can also use the skills and experience learnt in the Navy in commercial diving.
Career opportunities: Commercial divers usually begin be acting as a divers helper (checking cables, gauges and communication with the submerged diver) for roughly 3 years before doing any underwater activities themselves. Once they begin actual commercial dives, divers can gain experience and acquire skills (such as underwater welding). In the long run, divers can become instructors, trainers or supervisors. They can also climb and advance within underwater construction and salvage companies, or become freelance divers.
Job opportunities: Job opportunities lay near water – the states which offer the largest commercial diving opportunities are Louisiana, Texas, California, Florida and Michigan.
Job prospects: The demand will rise by roughly 6% by 2018, according to the BLS. Prospects are subject to the economy and the willingness of divers to travel to different locations in order to work.
Further reading material:
Find Diving jobs
Other dangerous construction jobs:
Roofers Construction laborers Building demolition
Photo by: heatheronhertravels / flickr
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So listen guys, I have been commercial diving for around 8 years. While it has some great exciting moments, the fact that there are too many diving schools putting out way too many divers for the industry has made it into a quite shitty career choice. Inshore diving has very little to offer divers in terms of what we call “glory”. There are some places where cool jobs happen occasionally in water, such as getting to ultrathermically cut steel ect on a coffee dam or something like that which attracts us to becoming divers. But mostly, inshore dive work is in dirty water, chemicals, sewage ect., penetrating narrow pipes, climbing long caged ladder in full kit, and often for dull and mundane work such as simply scraping off intake screens or dredging sand off of a intake ect. This is what divers do you say? Yes it is, which would be fine with me, doing dirty extra hard work, if the money added up. It does not! Inshore diving is exreamlly underpaid across the board, worldwide! You know the rumors about a guy getting a big bonus to dive in a sewage treatment plant for example? False! You can expect around $20-$40 per hour for inshore work no matter what your doing, and $40 would be after years of experience! When you consider the cost of becoming, equipping and maintaining ones self as a commercial diver these days, it adds up to shit work for shit pay on the inshore front…
As for offshore, and leaving out the overly spoiled and near impossible to get into North Sea ( as divers pass on their positions to their children because it is so lucrative there), there is obviously generally better types work than inshore ( not always though), it is normally in water at least ( though sometimes contaminated as well), and the history of the pay has been better. I am experienced inshore but have yet to go offshore. However I have some close friends who work offshore and in saturation. The starting rate for offshore work IS NOT $500 a day or anything near that! Divers from third world countries are going offshore for as little as $100 a day I have heard, ex-pat diver working for as little as $150 ( for newer guys but still, school is $30000 +?!?). This is a complete travesty for our indusrty!! Until divers come together and stop working for peanuts, than the commercial diving industry will remain as crap. There are a few good position to be earned out in the world of diving, such as working your way into sat diving, especially in the North Sea, but expect a long hard road ahead, not only from the actual demands of being a diver that have always existed, but more so from the over saturated diver market caused by too many trainning schools ripping off too many students with promises of grandeur! Don’t waste your money on dive school these days guys, just go sport diving (it’s funner trust me), and work on a oil rig on land if your after the money, it will be better.
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