Inspection Detail

Inspection: 109427757 - Josh Sieber

Inspection Information - Office: Washington Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was conducting commercial diving operations to harvest sea urchins. He was using surface-supplied air diving equipment and working in approximately 20 ft of water. Employee #1 had been down for about an hour on his first dive, when the tender heard a gurgle sound over the communication system and then silence. Attempts were made to contact Employee #1 through line pulls and voice communication, but there was no response and he was pulled up. When Employee #1 surfaced, his mask was off, he was not breathing, and his mask and mouth had vomit in them. Apparently, he had thrown up in his mask and aspirated the vomit, which caused him to drown.

Keywords: ASPHYXIATED, INHALATION, DROWN, DIVER, COMMERCIAL DIVING, VOMIT