WRITTEN QUESTION E-0618/03

by Dagmar Roth-Behrendt (PSE)and Christa Prets (PSE) to the Commission

(3 March 2003)

Subject: Safety risk for divers owing to non-standard Deco tables

Deco tables protect divers from accidents (decompression accidents). Based on the length of time which the diver plans to spend at particular depths, the Deco tables make it possible to calculate the safety stops which the diver should make when ascending to prevent decompression sickness.

Both professional and recreational divers face the problem that there are no standard Deco tables in EU countries. The absence of European standards with a view to uniform Deco tables means that different times are given in the different EU countries for the duration of the dive at various depths, which increases the risk of diving accidents.

The 1992 Deco tables were modified in some EU countries in 2000. However, the changes made were not standardised.

Given that there are no uniform rules for Deco tables at European level, and divers consequently face an increased health risk, can the Commission answer the following questions:

1. Is the Commission aware of this problem?

2. Is the Commission considering taking steps to resolve this problem at European level?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(26 March 2003)

1. The Commission has not been made aware of this specific problem.

2. The Commission does not consider that the legal basis of Article 152 of the EC Treaty, regarding public health, would support the adoption of Community measures in this matter.

The European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) adopted already in 2000 on a voluntary basis Standard EN 13319: 2000 on depth gauges and combined depth and time measuring devices. It allows the diver to know for how long he was exposed to a certain pressure, which is related to the depth. The CEN standard guarantees high accuracy concerning the above aspects. The discrepant information delivered by the DCI (decompression illness) protocols used in the different Member States remains and cannot be solved by CEN standards.

Attention is also drawn to the fact that CEN adopted Standard EN 1809:1997 on safety requirements and test methods for buoyancy compensators in the framework of the Personal Protective Equipment Directive 89/686/EEC(1). The references of this Standard were published in the Official Journal(2). DECO-tables are also used in the context of diving instruction and diving services offered to consumers. The Commission will soon present a general Report on the Safety of Consumer Services in accordance with the request by the Parliament and the Council set out in Article 20 of the revised General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC(3). The report will discuss several issues and priorities in relation to safety of consumer services. No existing injury data or risk assessment has yet been identified linked to the use of different DECO-tables.

The Commission has been informed that CEN is in the process of developing several standards for diving services and training of scuba divers and instructors (CEN/TC 329 Tourism services, WG 3, draft standards prEN 14153-1, 14153-2, 14153-3, 14413-1, 14413-2 and 14467). This work will focus on main risk elements in connection with organised diving and provide input for the usefulness of further standardisation in the scuba diving area.

(1) Council Directive 89/686/EEC of 21 December 1989 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to personal protective equipment OJ L 399, 30.12.1989.

(2) OJ C 183, 13.6.1998.

(3) OJ L 11, 15.1.2002.