Boat crew setting kit up
I am currently working in a dive centre in the Philippines..
We are in the middle of a debate with the owner about divers expectations differing with my and my instructor partner about having boat crew set up dive kit.
The boat crew we use are not divers and they have no training in kit set up..they are primarily boat crew/ fishermen and Butanding interaction crew.
They have training of how to get divers in and out of the water, positioning of the boat for pick ups, some safety training, and also the basics of how to handle kit.
Now I am of the mind set that if I am going to dive with the kit, I should be the one setting it up. My partner thinks the same and most of our British divers friends think the same also.
Most of the guests we get through, despite us briefing them that the boat crew will help them, but not to let them set up the kit, just sit back and let them do it and worse than that, then proceed to dive without ever checking the kit. We have had numerous instances of divers entering the water with tanks turned off, tanks falling out etc.
The owner thinks that to give good customer service we should train the crew to set up kit. My partner and I think that, from a safety point of view, divers should set up their own kit.
One of our main dive sites is Manta bowl where the surface conditions are often very poor and the current rips through...the consequences of not having properly set up kit there are really rather severe, something which the guests are briefed about but most chose to ignore.
Also is having ones kit set up by crew lazy, or just what guests expect these days?..it seems we have a lot of guests who are almost literally unable to set their kit up which sometimes leads us to wonder how well they know how to use it..
Interested in comments please..
Thanks
Jo
From a liability standpoint, one would think that the crew should be certified divers at a minimum. Depending upon an agency's training standards, a certified diver may be considered a "certified assistant." I know both PDIC and PSAI consider a certified diver a certified assistant at the level of training that has been completed.
I like the idea of certified assistants because not everyone is cut out to be a divemaster. Divemaster training shouldn't be watered down to allow everyone working in the diving industry to meet a standard for employment. I'd rather have at least one or two top quality divemasters on a boat to lead a dive and truly be able to handle emergencies like professionals rather than an entire crew who barely meets the real-world standards for divemastering. At a recent DEMA meeting, the focus groups complained most loudly about poor standards for dive pros affecting the standards of open water divers.
Your employer should obtain legal advice from an attorney regarding the role of the crew in setting up equipment. If the operation goes to the extreme that some operators do by not letting the diver touch his or her own gear, that would be a red flag to me not to patron such an operation. First, don't touch my gear. Believe me, you wouldn't know how to put my rig together the way I like it. If you see an obvious problem, by all means, help me out. Even though I have 30 years of experience and dive a state of the art rig, I'm not immune to making a mistake. I'd rather someone call my attention to what might be wrong rather than touch anything.
It's true that some divers are being taught to expect royal service. A friend of mine who worked in Hawaii before moving to Vietnam told me that many of the Japanese divers expect you to help them into their wetsuits and set up their rigs. When I worked in the Caymans, I was told I needed to do more for the divers so we could all get better tips. Coming from an agency that expected every diver to be entirely responsible for himself or herself it was culture shock to work at a resort.
You need to identify your customers and assess their needs. It might be an opportunity for the crew and the DM's to make more money for more service. If a diver isn't comfortable setting up his or her own rig, I would bet that diver shouldn't be a diver in the first place and needs to dive with a divemaster for which the DM should be tipped.
With abbreviated time frames for training, many dive centers and instructors do not take the high road and exceed today's poor minimum standards. It takes an exceptional instructor to produce quality in today's training arena. Resort staff are challenged with catering to the uncomfortable and the highly experienced alike. Experienced divers want to be left alone. The uncomfortable need help. Policies need to be in place so both groups have a great time.
A suggestion: record the number of uncomfortable divers you get every week compared to comfortable divers and send those results to the Recreational Scuba Training Council. Let them know they are making a mockery of the sport.