Recently (on another thread) there was extensive discussion on how a certified instructor runs a SCUBA class. Each instructor certification body allows the instructor some discretion, but standardizes how training courses are to operate.
Instructors must maintain insurance as a condition of re-certification. The policy becomes invalid if the instructor does not comply with the certification agencies training requirements. Dive shops are also routinely added as additional insureds to protect them from instructor negligence.
Although this process may appear bureaucratic, I believe that the intent of these requirements is to limit agency / instructor liability and to provide an increased level of safety during the introduction to diving or training certification process.
So here's the question. What do you believe is reasonable for an instructor to do when running a training program:
a) Follow the standards dilegently;
b) Consider the agency standards as guidelines only; or
c) Forget about the standards completely and do his/her own thing;
Should liability be a consideration?
Previously, I never considered these options and felt that if I was to teach, my agreement to follow the rules was important to my students, the certification agency concerned and the diving industry at large. From some of the comments made on the other thread (amazingly by other instructors) it makes me wonder. Perhaps times have changed and my perspective on this matter is antiquated.
What do you think? What do you expect of an Instructor?
Instructors must maintain insurance as a condition of re-certification. The policy becomes invalid if the instructor does not comply with the certification agencies training requirements. Dive shops are also routinely added as additional insureds to protect them from instructor negligence.
Although this process may appear bureaucratic, I believe that the intent of these requirements is to limit agency / instructor liability and to provide an increased level of safety during the introduction to diving or training certification process.
So here's the question. What do you believe is reasonable for an instructor to do when running a training program:
a) Follow the standards dilegently;
b) Consider the agency standards as guidelines only; or
c) Forget about the standards completely and do his/her own thing;
Should liability be a consideration?
Previously, I never considered these options and felt that if I was to teach, my agreement to follow the rules was important to my students, the certification agency concerned and the diving industry at large. From some of the comments made on the other thread (amazingly by other instructors) it makes me wonder. Perhaps times have changed and my perspective on this matter is antiquated.
What do you think? What do you expect of an Instructor?
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