Early Use of Diving Logbooks In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, commercial diving…
Early Use of Diving Logbooks
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, commercial diving was still a relatively new and informal industry, largely focused on salvage, underwater construction, and later, the growing oil and gas sectors. Early divers, often equipped with cumbersome hardhat diving gear, likely kept informal records of their dives, but there was no established system for logging dives in a standardised way.
Mid-20th Century Developments
As the offshore oil and gas industry began to boom in the 1940s and 1950s, particularly with large-scale operations in places like the Gulf of Mexico, the need for a more structured approach to commercial diving safety became apparent. With deeper and more dangerous dives, the risks increased, and a system for documenting dives was needed for safety, medical monitoring, and legal reasons.
In this period, it’s likely that the first structured dive logbooks started to be used. Divers would record:
- Dive dates and locations
- Depths and durations
- Equipment used (e.g., breathing apparatus)
- Environmental conditions (e.g., water temperature)
- Decompression schedules
- Any incidents or problems encountered
These records served as a form of accountability and safety, allowing divers to track their cumulative exposure to pressure, which is critical for preventing conditions like decompression sickness (the bends).
1960 -1990’s: Formalisation and Standards
In the 1960s, the commercial diving industry began to formalise, with the establishment of key organisations that helped professionalise and regulate the sector. Two critical groups emerged:
- The Association of Diving Contractors International (ADCI) was formed in 1968 to help set safety standards for diving contractors. ADCI promoted the use of dive logbooks to document all diving operations and monitor diver health and safety.
- The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) “IMCA was formed in 1995 through the merger of the Association of Offshore Diving Contractors (AODC) established in 1972, and the Dynamically Positioned Vessel Owners Association (DPVOA) established in 1989. Consequently, their operational roots and technical credentials are second to none in our industry.”
Standardised Dive Logbooks
By the late 20th century, dive logbooks were formalised as an essential component of a diver’s professional toolkit. These were often required by law or industry regulations, particularly in offshore and hazardous environments, to ensure that divers adhered to safety protocols. Standardised logbooks became critical for:
- Monitoring cumulative diving exposure over a career
- Ensuring that divers followed decompression procedures
- Providing legal evidence in case of disputes or accidents
- Offering transparency and accountability for dive contractors
Logbooks and Modern Diving Technology
As diving technology advanced—such as the introduction of mixed-gas diving, saturation diving, and diving in deeper, more hazardous environments—logbooks became even more essential for tracking the complex safety needs of each dive. In modern commercial diving, detailed logbook records also play a role in medical monitoring, as repeated exposure to pressure and other conditions can have long-term effects on a diver’s health.
Digital Dive Logbooks
Recently, with advances in digital technology, traditional paper logbooks have evolved into digital formats. These digital logbooks, such as LOGiiT, allow divers and contractors to track dives in a more efficient and detailed manner. They also offer easy access to data for auditing, certification, and safety reviews. Logiit represent the latest step in the evolution of dive logbooks, providing real-time data collection and analysis to ensure safety in increasingly complex and dangerous diving operations.
Key Milestones:
- Pre-1940s: Informal, non-standardised logging of dives by early commercial divers.
- 1940s–1950s: Growth of offshore oil and gas sector, with informal dive logging practices beginning to standardise.
- 1960s: Establishment of ADCI, standardising the use of dive logbooks in commercial diving.
- 1980s–1990s: Establishment of IMCA. Dive logbooks become a professional requirement in many regions, with standard formats for safety and legal reasons.
- 2020s-present: Emergence of digital dive logbooks like LOGiiT, providing enhanced safety tracking, regulatory compliance, and audit trails for commercial diving operations.
The Future
The evolution of digital dive logbooks is likely to continue with further integration of AI, machine learning, and real-time data analytics, offering predictive insights for diver safety and operational efficiency. These advancements will not only improve safety but also enhance the overall management of diving operations.
Digital dive logbooks like LOGiiT are part of the future, helping the industry meet ever-increasing demands for safety, accuracy, and accountability. Would you like to explore how certain features can be implemented in LOGiiT to push this further?
