The British Sub-Aqua Club has released its annual diving Incident Report for 2022, which recorded a total of 182 incidents and six fatalities throughout the UK.
As part of its role as National Governing Body, BSAC reports annually on diving incidents in the UK from all diver training agencies. The report is compiled by BSAC Incident Advisor Jim Watson and data analyst Ben Peddie.
The report and its data analysis aims to promote diver safety as well as understanding any trends that can support all the diving agencies in their diver training programs and safety advice.
The 2022 report covers incidents from January 1st, 2022 to December 31st, 2022.
During this period, a total of 248 incidents were recorded in the UK and overseas, which sadly included six incidents resulting in six fatalities.
While each fatality is a tragic and sad loss, this represents the lowest number of diving fatalities in a normal diving year since 1977 and equals the number of fatalities during the first year of the pandemic, when diving activity was severely limited.
From the conclusions of the report:
“Whilst this could be interpreted as positive, the stochastic nature of the number of fatalities each year means that it is not possible to say that this is an emerging trend. Any medical incident in water can have a negative outcome when compared with a similar event on land, depending on the circumstances and the opportunity for a timely rescue.”
Other key features of the 2022 report:
- IPO continues to be an identifiable concern, with both confirmed and possible cases reflected graphically in the report. The data is being updated if medical confirmation is received.
- Illness and Injury was the most reported category of incident, although this may well have included DCI where we have insufficient information to allocate to that category.
- The absence of an early season spike continues, suggesting divers are exercising appropriate preparation for a return to diving activity.
The full BSAC Incident Report 2022 is now available for members and clubs to download at bsac.com/incidentreport.
