The Diving Safety Program was established as a result of Indiana University’s longstanding history of SCUBA diving training—beginning in 1963—and the continuous demands for research in underwater environments. It is one of the oldest programs in the country and one of the largest, training about 500 individuals to dive safely each year. The Diving Safety Program provides oversight of training, recreational, scientific SCUBA diving, and free snorkeling activities.
The program further supports university students, faculty, and staff through the training of underwater techniques and associated technologies ensuring compliance with IU scientific diving regulations as well as Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) breathing compressed gas standards.
Each year in October, Sam Haskell, Diving Safety Officer from IU Environmental Health and Safety, trains about 90 people over a three-day period at Sunset Park in Linton, Indiana on diving safety. This training event includes a range of training exercises and activities for students and faculty, including underwater rescue scenarios, search and recovery, scientific documentation, certification checkout dives, and dive skill development. Training exercises are conducted in a historic, flooded coal pit that has been enhanced as an underwater park with submerged cars and a school bus, platforms, sunken boats, and a variety of other obstacles and items.
Divers undergo training exercises led by Sam Haskell, Diving Safety Officer, in Sunset Park in Linton, Indiana. Photos by Chris Meyer, Indiana University
