Occupation: DEEP SEA DIVER (COMMERCIAL)

DEEP SEA DIVER (COMMERCIAL)

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HELPFUL TIP:

There’s probably a good reason why your character chose their career. Think about how certain talents and skills, a dominant positive or negative trait, or even an emotional wound might have influenced this decision. And once they're on the job, don't forget about the many work-related conflict scenarios you can throw at them to create tension and add complications.

Deep sea diving is the act of descending into water and remaining there for an extended time using a breathing apparatus. This type of diving is done for a variety of reasons: recreation, salvage, industrial work, and research, just to name a few. This entry will focus on commercial diving, specifically offshore diving (as opposed to inland diving). Offshore work is primarily done in the oil and gas sector, where a specially trained diver installs and repairs underwater equipment and piping in deep water.

Some of this work may require saturation diving, which requires extended stays in a pressurized environment (usually a hyperbaric chamber on the surface, or an ambient pressure underwater habitat) to allow a diver to remain at lower depths for a greater amount of time. Divers may live in this type of chamber for a month at a time and get to the work site using a diving bell, a pod that maintains pressure. In teams of three, two divers work while a third monitors from inside in case a rescue is required. Ascending to a surface must be done slowly to avoid the bends.

Deep sea divers will have a variety of tasks that may require special skills. Welding, underwater detonations, construction, installations and pipe-fitting, checking connections and inspections, pigging placement, troubleshooting malfunctioning equipment, overseeing operations such as trenching and pipeline stabilization, search and recovery, and running other specialized equipment all demand specialized knowledge by the diving team.

A diver in this field must be physically and mentally fit as the work is very demanding. It can be dangerous work, due to the physicality of the work, the environment, and fatigue. Most commercial divers are on the younger end of the spectrum.

In a perfect world, all divers must have their commercial diving certification. (Some may not, depending on the area of the world they happen to work in, but in North America and many other developed countries, certification is demanded.) A basic, entry-level program may take about 2 months to complete, but more extensive programming will take anywhere from four to twelve months. To earn more advanced certifications a person will have to log hours in the field and on working dives.

Divers must have a strong command of physics, adhere to safety protocols (which include stringent safety drills) and have training in first aid, CPR, and know how to deal with (and treat) diving injuries and diseases. Offshore divers will also learn technical skills elsewhere that will directly factor into their work (welding, etc.)

DEEP SEA DIVER (COMMERCIAL)

HELPFUL TIP:

OVERVIEW:

NECESSARY TRAINING:

USEFUL SKILLS, TALENTS, OR ABILITIES:

HELPFUL POSITIVE TRAITS:

EMOTIONAL WOUNDS THAT MAY HAVE FACTORED INTO THIS OCCUPATION CHOICE:

SOURCES OF FRICTION:

PEOPLE THEY MIGHT INTERACT WITH:

HOW THIS OCCUPATION MIGHT IMPACT ONE'S BASIC NEEDS:

COMMON WORK-RELATED SETTINGS:

TWISTING THE STEREOTYPE:

REASONS THE CHARACTER MAY HAVE BEEN DRAWN TO THIS PROFESSION: