From the Viking Diving Contaminated Water website

Contaminated Water

There is a definite need within the professional diving community to have access to minimum performance requirements for equipment used to protect divers required to enter both chemically and biologically contaminated water. Trelleborg Protective Products has developed a test matrix to quantify the performance of the Viking dry diving suits for use in these kinds of waters. In lieu of defined acceptable standards within the diving community, we have taken the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards for chemical protective clothing and modified it to test dry diving suits. The NFPA standard provides the benchmark performance criteria to approve suits for first responders entering unknown hazardous chemical environments.

In the report available here, Diving in Contaminated Water - Chemical and Biological Tests of Viking Dry Suits and Accessories, we provide the information needed to make informed decisions and thereby ensure protection of the diver in contaminated waters.

The information in the report does not provide all the information or training needed to plan a dive operation in contaminated water. It is the diving supervisor who must take responsibility for the safety of the diver based on a risk assessment of the actual conditions at the dive site. And in certain circumstances, the best decision may be not to dive at all.

After Diving - Decontamination

Decontamination shall be performed on the scene when a dry suit has been exposed to, or has been potentially exposed to, hazardous materials. On scene decontamination shall be performed while the suit is still being worn to minimize potential contamination of the wearer during removal.

Due to the vast number of chemicals and their different properties, no guaranteed decontamination procedure exists. The best way to decontaminate must be decided for the specific chemical encountered. This decision may only be made by people educated for this task and with a good working knowledge of chemistry.

In the absence of such knowledge, the minimum decontamination shall consist of rinsing or spraying the garment with water and scrubbing lightly with a soft bristled brush using a decon detergent, e.g. Decon-Check™, and then thoroughly rinse with plain water. This process shall be repeated at least twice.

The health and safety of the diver, both during and after the decontamination process, and the health and safety of the personnel applying the decontamination agent, must be taken into consideration. After removal, the dry suit must be placed in a suitable container for subsequent cleaning, additional decontamination, inspection, or in the worst case, disposal.

Please note! The data contained in the report has been developed from tests conducted under controlled laboratory conditions, not under actual diving environments. The user must determine the applicability of these test results for the actual exposure anticipated. Further more, the test results are specific only for Viking Diving materials and components. Comparisons to the performance of other manufacturers' diving equipment cannot be made.

Viking Dive Equipment

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