Participants should:

• familiarize themselves with the site and the scope
  of work to be undertaken;


• be familiar with all safety information and code of
  diving practice;


• realistically assess their own training, experience
  and capabilities;


• be aware of responsibilities to other team members;


• ask for advice and communicate any reservations
  about safety issues, or their competency to under-
  take an assigned task;


• remain within the limits set by the project and by
  their own capabilities.

It is essential that project organizers do not place pres-

sure on participants to undertake dives that are beyond

their experience, or where they are not confident. Peer

pressure can be dangerous and will also lead to poor

archaeological standards.

RISK ASSESSMENTS

In everyday life, individuals regularly assess their own

personal safety. Crossing the road, for example, involves

identifying the possible dangers and taking appropriate

precautions. Precautions might involve looking in both

directions before crossing or, if the road is busy, a sens-

ible precaution might be to move along the road to a

T

he importance of safety during all archaeolo-
gical work under water and on the foreshore is
paramount. While it is not possible, nor an object-
ive of this book, to provide an exhaustive guide to safety
on such sites, it is relevant to summarize a few essential
points related to archaeological work in a foreshore or
underwater context. The importance of a thorough pro-
ject design for any archaeological project was covered
in chapter 5. Within each project design, it is essential
that issues relating to the safety of those involved with
the project are considered.
Divers are entering an alien environment and each
will respond differently to the challenge. No matter how
much preparation and assistance is provided by the
organizers of a diving project, each participant will carry
much of the responsibility for his/her own safety once
they enter the water. This is particularly true of unteth-
ered scuba-diving, where once in the water, divers are
largely independent from surface supervision, although
through-water communication systems can provide a
link with a surface supervisor. In addition, it should be
remembered that the requirement to work under water
means that the diver must be competent to complete the
assigned task. Additional task loading must be planned
for before the dive takes place.
Furthermore, each diver has a duty of care towards
his/her fellow participants and because they are likely to
be carrying out activities that have additional effects – other
than those associated with normal sport diving – it is every-
one’s duty to ensure safe diving practices are followed.

Contents

u Risk assessments

u Diving project plan

u Codes of practice

u Control of diving operations

u Working under water

u Potential diving problems and solutions

u Safety during excavation

u Inter-tidal site safety

Safety on Archaeological Sites Under

Water and on the Foreshore

6

Underwater Archaeology: The NAS Guide to Principles and Practice Second Edition Edited by Amanda Bowens
© 2009 Nautical Archaeological Society ISBN: 978-1-405-17592-0