Diver safety is an ever-ongoing issue that should always be at the forefront of the diving community, according to PADI.
As such, the dive training agency announced a five-point reminder highlighting why safety should always be divers’ primary and first consideration. The points are as follows:
- Course Safety Standards and Community Safe Diving Practices: Adhering to safety standards and practices cannot be over-emphasized.
- Safety Overlap is Not Superfluous: Often, repetitive safety protocols seem unimportant and repetitive; they are not! They are there to serve as a layering system to provide adequate safety measures.
- Safety is Human: Safety standards often rely on good judgment and a conservative approach. The human applying safety standards should make decisions with safety at the forefront of their mind.
- Safety Procedures are Dynamic: Safety protocols change with knowledge often learned the hard way and technology. Divers should always stay current and up to date with the latest information and protocols.
- Always be “On Duty” When it Comes to Safety: Divers cannot “switch off” when it comes to implementing safety. Divers, especially pros, should lead by example and always practice the highest possible safety standards.
Commenting on the safety issue, Drew Richardson, CEO and President of PADI Worldwide, said:
“Diver safety is each and every diving professional’s first and most important priority because when it’s lacking, preventable tragedies can occur…Dive incidents ripple well beyond the victims. They are deep, personal tragedies also impacting families, friends, and the entire global diving community – regardless of the diving organization individuals are associated with.”
He added:
“There is generally a reasonably low risk in diving when community, training course, and safe diving practices are followed, but when they are not, the severity of a potential accident will have serious consequences that could have been entirely avoidable…While most diving Professionals put safety first, recent incidents where fatalities have occurred were not simple slips or forgetful moments. These tragedies resulted directly or indirectly from violating course standards, abandoning sound judgement and ignoring or overriding obvious and accepted dive community practices… When a dive instructor neglects standards, disregards required equipment or flouts established practices, they not only increase the likelihood of an unnecessary tragedy, but they can also be difficult or impossible to defend reasonably.”
