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Chairman’s View

After politely asking, then nagging and finally threatening the Chairman with bodily harm if he didn’t submit a contribution for this edition of Going Down, the Editor has given up waiting and decided to publish without Barry’s musing this month.  Is that a huge sigh of relief I hear? Don’t count your chickens though, the DO submitted his thoughts weeks ago!

Ed

DO’s Corner 

We are well into the diving season now and I understand a great deal of good, safe diving has taken place.  However, as is often the case, newer less experienced and less qualified divers are keen to trust their well being to the older, more qualified and more experienced members.

As is my lot, I must as DS-AC’s diving officer offer a few words of advice or warning (call it what you will), to all parties.

I am concerned at a seemingly increasing disregard for some very basic rules (for want of a better word) regarding safe diving practices. 

I have had an opportunity to speak to a number of members regarding the above and have mentioned my concerns repeatedly at club meetings, however I feel it is time to make sure the message gets to every member. 

The matters which give me cause for concern are as follows; - 

• Divers carrying out dives to depths beyond their current qualification and, more importantly, experience, regardless of whether they are being escorted by a more advanced diver or not. 
• Trip organisers and dive marshals organising dives in circumstances that result in the second or third dive, in a single day series, being deeper than the first or preceding dive. 
• Divers booking onto club arranged dives without a valid medical. 

In an effort to make the position clearer to you all, I have the following to say about the above points. 

• The main problem with regard to exceeding depth restrictions is that it is, more often than not, a newer and therefore less experienced but keen member who is tempted to exceed their depth limit.  I am sure you are all aware that no amount of reading, or training can substitute real experience and real experience takes time to gain. 
• Every member of this club should be aware of the depth restriction for each and every level of diving grade and, as such, there can be no excuses. 
• I have already discussed the duty of care that dive buddies have to each other and will not dwell on it again here, except to say that, as an instructor, dive leader or advanced diver, your duty of care to a lesser qualified buddy is greatly enhanced.  Is breaking this very basic safety consideration the best way to demonstrate how to conduct yourself as an experienced diver/instructor? 

 DS-AC has a very good safety record and this is due in no small part to the quality of diver training and dive marshalling demonstrated within the branch over the past 25 years.  In my eight years with the club I can only recall one serious incident which left the diver involved with long term health problems and, at the time of the incident, was indeed life threatening. That incident involved a serious bend in a remote diving location and the only possible cause established was that the previous dive depth was exceeded by as little as a metre. 

Accidents happen, but it is the deliberate disregard for safe diving practices that concerns me.  Whilst I accept that the desired day’s diving can be made more difficult by sticking to the “deepest dive first” rule, dive marshals have a responsibility to ensure suitable sites.