A Sports Approach to Diver Safety by Al Hornsby

This Issue’s Table of Contents
category: Safety (3 min read)

Creating a culture of safety in your business.

by Al Hornsby, owner, Al Hornsby Productions, Singapore

Al is regarded as one of the industry’s most experienced risk management litigation executives.

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IN SPORTS, THE OLD SAYING that ‘the best defense is a good offense’ is well known. The saying means not simply sitting back, reacting passively, and hoping for the best, but aggressively controlling the game by taking it to the competition. Perhaps surprisingly, this adage also has great applicability to dive supervision. Reviews of dive accidents and litigation show an unfortunate number of dive accidents occurring because too many elements of a dive were simply not adequately anticipated and managed.

In effect, without knowledge and related controls being well utilized, the chances of a dive being adversely affected by the individual movements and habits – good and bad – of the divers in the group, as well as by in-water conditions, dive-site depths, and other factors, can increase.

Thinking in terms of carrying out a well-managed dive, there are some suggested practices that may not apply in all circumstances but could be useful when supervising dive activities. Basically, the approach means dive leaders learning what they can about their divers before dives begin. This can be assisted by reviews of their certifications and experience, by having c-cards and logbooks examined prior to dives, etc. It can also be beneficial for buddy teams and group assignments to be influenced by such information when possible.

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Such a regular process can also provide valuable insights regarding potential problems, which buddy teams may generally benefit from closer attention and which may actually need some special assistance, especially when considering the likely visibility at the dive site, the anticipated water movement, etc.

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Not only does such an organized approach generally help inform dive supervisors of the likely traits and skills of the divers in their care, but it can also can be very useful in determining which dive sites and conditions can aid in offering safer and more enjoyable dives on any given day.

The significant outcome of developing this sort of managed dive supervision, however, should not only be the actual overall increased effectiveness of the in-water supervision, but also the documented, high level of concern and control being exercised by the professional team conducting the dives.

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While it is never possible to completely eliminate the risks of a dive going wrong or an accident occurring, it is possible to design and adhere to a well-established process that has clearly been put into place for the purpose of increasing overall diver safety. In the sad occurrence of a dive accident, at least we can have formally organized the dives in a manner that allows us to demonstrably have sought the information and insights possible to use in establishing buddy teams; determining dive sites; and evaluating conditions based as much as possible on the experience and likely dive skills of the divers in our care on any given day.

These elements are not only strongly supportive of dive safety, but also extremely valuable in establishing a high level of professionalism should an accident – and potential litigation – occur.

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