BSAC 2008 incident report

[String]

BSACs UK incident report was published this week. It contains all known diving incidents that took place in the UK (all agencies) and all bsac members abroad.

Diving was far lower in number overall this year due to weather (some people reporting 60-70% less).

There were 359 reported incidents. There were 10 fatalities (significantly lower than the average of 17).

Decompression Illness tops the table for incident type with "Ascent problems" being second. Its a worrying trend in that bad buoyancy seems to be causing most accidents.

Of those 10 fatalities, 3 of them are suspected to have a medical root cause.
6 involved a separation of some kind, 2 were rebreather, 1 of a diver trapped inside a wreck,2 of people diving in groups of 3 that got separated, 1 was a snorkeller and 1 uncontrolled buoyant ascent due to drysuit inflation.

Of the DCI incidents, 38 of them involved rapid ascents.
In the ascent category, 22% were weighting or weight related problems
17% regulator freeflows (!!!!!!!)
15% poor buoyancy control
15% Delayed SMB problems

Its worrying that a freeflow is causing people to have rapid ascents, also worrying that the DSMB problem hasn't been solved.

Full report here with individual case details:
http://www.bsac.com/core/core_picker/download.asp?id=14699&filetitle=Diving+Incident+Report+2008

 

[I Dive]

"A diver entered the water and attempted to descend. She was unable to do so and returned to the boat for an extra 2kg weight. She then completed a normal dive."

This is considered an incident?

 

[String]

"A diver entered the water and attempted to descend. She was unable to do so and returned to the boat for an extra 2kg weight. She then completed a normal dive."

This is considered an incident?

Sadly if someone was mad enough to submit an incident report for this then yes - they have to report on all recorded incidents.

 

[Andy077]

"A diver entered the water and attempted to descend. She was unable to do so and returned to the boat for an extra 2kg weight. She then completed a normal dive."

This is considered an incident?

Don't forget, you're dealing with the Nanny State UK, where firefighters need training to sit in a recliner, old people can't feed birds in their own yard, it's considered too dangerous for a doctor to remove earwax, elderly men have their canes confiscated as dangerous weapons, coast guardsmen can't use dangerous flares, and the whole island is soon to be wrapped in Nerf.
etc......

 

[String]

Most of the above are urban myths and aren't actually true.

Yes HSE are a complete nightmare but they aren't THAT bad. At least there isnt a rampant "sue" culture here (yet) which means for the moment at least common sense applies and people take responsibility for their own actions.

 

[InTheDrink]

String, can you explain to me what 'Delayed SMB problems' means? Thx.

 

[String]

Meaning rapid ascents due to problems sending up a delayed SMB. Either buoyancy loss when inflating, getting it tangled or jammed reel would be the usual suspects.
Nearly all due to poor technique or training. Needs to be sorted though as its a 100% vital part of all uk sea diving.

 

[InTheDrink]

Meaning rapid ascents due to problems sending up a delayed SMB. Either buoyancy loss when inflating, getting it tangled or jammed reel would be the usual suspects.
Nearly all due to poor technique or training. Needs to be sorted though as its a 100% vital part of all uk sea diving.

Thanks and agreed essential diving around here. I've started practising and have had some good advice on this board. My first attempt, last year, in the Maldives and I went for 5m to 1m in perhaps 1 second.

I can see why this could cause accidents - but sounds like very avoidable accidents! :depressed:

 

[Fionab]

Don't forget, you're dealing with the Nanny State UK,

As opposed to the US where everyone sues the pants off everyone else at the drop of a hat.

 

[don Francisco]

String-
thanks for posting the report, a question or two.

Do I understand correctly that if someone were to have a problem inflating an SMB underwater, and ended up carried to the surface by it, it could be reported as an incident even if there were no untoward consequences?

It speaks or "reported incidents". Reported to who? Is some kind or reporting by DM's or Instructors mandatory? and what would constitute a reportable incident?

I ask because many, like myself, operate under the "no harm, no foul" rule and woildn't report anything unless there were an injury.
dF