----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2003 7:54
PM
Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] PSUBS Standards
Committee now forming: contact Doug Farrow at
SeaLordOne@aol.com
Shipmates,
Hugo Marrero's white paper entitled "do
we need safety standards for private submersibles?" generated some interesting
discussion at this year's PSUBS convention. My take on the conclusion
was, yes we need them, but no, PSUBS does not currently have the resources to
take on such a major project. What we can do, today, is to collect,
organize, describe, and recommend existing industry standards. We can
put a "safety standards" section on the PSUB's website that will educate our
community about the current industry standards and show everyone where they
may obtain copies of these standards.
I have volunteered to lead a
committee to generate this information. This is an "ad hoc" committee,
meaning that unless something changes, it will dissolve once we deliver our
final products. While the final products will be determined by the will,
size, and talents of the committee, I do have a working vision of the sorts of
products we will deliver:
1. A listing of the titles
of the current version of the primary submersibles
standards and
guidelines.
2. A summary of the documents, and where/how
to obtain a copy.
3. A paper discussing related
topics. Do I certify my boat? If so, how? What is
involved? How much does it
cost? What do I do about insurance?
That is my initial take on
the final products. An initial listing of standards I have found on my
own includes:
1. Rules for building and classing
underwater vehicles, systems and hyperbaric facilities (2002): American Bureau
of Shipping.
2. Rules and regulations for the
construction and classification of submersibles and underwater systems (1989):
Lloyd's register.
3. Guidelines for the design,
construction and operation of passenger submersible craft (2001):
International Maritime Organization (United
Nations
Organization).
4. Safety standards for pressue
vessels for human occupancy (2002): American Society for Mechanical
Engineers.
5. Guidance for the certification of
passenger carrying submersibles (1993): United States Coast Guard.
The
committee, once formed, can get into a discussion of how far we want to spread
out looking for standards. The offshore drilling industry has guidelines
for its submersibles (Association of Offshore Diving Contractrors) for
example. The Welding Research Council has guidelines for steel.
Do we want to include those as well? We do need to put some limits
on how far we will take this. For myself, I would rather deliver on a
modest goal than fail to deliver on an ambitious one.
How will we
organize and manage this project? For today, I am putting out this call
for volunteers. Later I will put out a call for standards, to tap into
the knowledge base of the entire PSUBS community. We will begin our work
as a community by simply sending e-mails to one another. Each member of
the committee will send all comments to the entire committee.
I am
hoping the group will in time include at least a couple of people with enough
technical savvy to move us into some more efficient, collaborative, web-based
communication method. But to get us started, I am simply asking those
who want to participate on the PSUBS Standards Committee to send me an e-mail
at SeaLordOne@aol.com.
Please indicate any knowledge, skills or
expretise you have that may be of particular relevance to this project, and
any resources (technical, informational or managerail) you may be able to
bring to the table. If all you have to bring to the table is a desire to
assist the community, well, that is quite enough indeed. A lot of this
work will invlove simpy reading and summarizing existing standards. The
distribution of labor will depend on the size and diversity of the group who
volunteers. We need to have our final product up and running prior
to the next annual convention.
Ray has agreed to serve on the
committee. This assures us of the PSUBS seal of approval, and also
provides the requisite level of adult supervision for me and the chaps who
sign up for the group.
Who is with me on this?
'Doug
Farrow