How important is armchair incident analysis?

[dherbman]

There are a lot of people out there that seem to think there is something of urgent importance to be gleaned from each and every incident that occurs. Another thread is currently running that asks whether such analysis might lead one to give up diving. That would certainly be a solid result of incident analysis. Are there any others?

I am asking three things:

1) Can you list anything you have changed in your diving as a result of armchair incident analysis?

2) Have you ever helped clarify, resolve or bring about any good by armchair analysis?

3) If the answer to both 1 and 2 are no, isn't this form of armchair analysis the cyber equivalent of freeway rubbernecking?

 

[Divin'Papaw]

1) I find that it helps me to keep focused on being a safe diver and constantly maintaining a healthy respect for the dangers of our sport. I find it as an antidote to complacency.

2) No ... but being a new diver I have sure learned alot about the unseen dangers and how to avoid them. I do feel that this type of analysis has helped me personally to be more aware and better prepared.

 

[H2Andy]

accident analysis is a very good tool. it lets you know what the mistakes
being made are, and thus alerts you to them, and hopefully you'll be able
to avoid those.

but accident analysis is only as good as the facts you get.

 

[Goose75]

The same could be said for armchair analysis of war or sports.

 

[PerroneFord]

There are a lot of people out there that seem to think there is something of urgent importance to be gleaned from each and every incident that occurs. Another thread is currently running that asks whether such analysis might lead one to give up diving. That would certainly be a solid result of incident analysis. Are there any others?

I am asking three things:

1) Can you list anything you have changed in your diving as a result of armchair incident analysis?

2) Have you ever helped clarify, resolve or bring about any good by armchair analysis?

3) If the answer to both 1 and 2 are no, isn't this form of armchair analysis the cyber equivalent of freeway rubbernecking?

1. This is a good question, and one I broached with my instructor Sunday night. In a HIGHLY popularized event last year, he was one of very few people with first hand knowledge. Rather than keep the incident quiet, he offered some solid evidence for those in the diving community to analyze and learn from. He felt it was CRUCIAL that this kind of thing be used to improve procedures in the diving community. Based on that information I personally know MANY divers have changed their pre-dive protocol. So in that regard, I feel it was a good thing.

2. Not me personally, but I know people who have. Including the instructor I just mentioned.

3. Yes.

 

[fairybasslet]

1) Can you list anything you have changed in your diving as a result of armchair incident analysis?

Yes. I definitely breathe my gas and smell it before diving.
I double check all gear and my buddy's gear.
I listen to briefings.
I don't dive beyond my training. (Well, I never did that but reading about accidents of divers who went cave diving without trainin, or tried rebreathers, reinforced that bit of wisdom).
There's probably more but I can't think of them right now.

2) Have you ever helped clarify, resolve or bring about any good by armchair analysis?

I don't know that I have enough experience as a diver to do this yet. But I pass on information that I have learned to other divers if the situation warrants it.

3) If the answer to both 1 and 2 are no, isn't this form of armchair analysis the cyber equivalent of freeway rubbernecking?

Absolutely not. The reasons I read the Lessons for Life section in Scuba Diving, or other safety related articles in other magazines is to gain knowledge. As far as car accidents go, I don't speed on the highway when it's raining because of hydroplaning, drink and drive, or other things. And I absolutely hate looking at accidents and usually look away.

 

[minnesota01r6]

Finding out "what happened" and the potential failure points of the current diving system allows you to not make the same mistake. You cannot do that just looking at an accident on the freeway because you have no idea HOW it happened.

1) I am more vigilant about pre-dive buddy checks, I monitor my air and calculate rock bottom, I carry shears for entanglements, I carry SMB, backup light, and safety whistle for a "lost at sea" adventure, and finally I stay closer to my buddy than I otherwise would and evaluate who my buddy is more closely before the dive.

2) I have never helped clarify anything about an incident, but I have relied on the more experienced divers who have

3) this is a lot closer to the NTSB doing accident analysis when a plane crashes than it is to rubbernecking. Find out what the causal chain is so that you can change it.

 

[dherbman]

accident analysis is a very good tool. it lets you know what the mistakes
being made are, and thus alerts you to them, and hopefully you'll be able
to avoid those.

but accident analysis is only as good as the facts you get.

Nice thought, but how about answering the questions?

 

[H2Andy]

well, my answer was implicitly stated, but here it is:

i don't trust the facts i get when i try to do accident analysis. rather, i prefer
to let the pros do that, since they are much better at gathering the facts
than i am.

bad facts in accident analysis are worse that useless. they can be deadly.

 

[in_cavediver]

In technical diving, many procedures and rules have been gleaned from objective accident analysis. So much so that every cave/cavern class goes over the 5 fundemental rules of accident analysis for cave diving.

Incident analysis is not unique to diving. It is used literally everywhere. From Aircraft crash investigations to car wrecks to engineering design. It's basically how we learn from our mistakes.

Failing to do this means we may be destined to repeat said mistakes.

Now to answer your specific questions:

1) yes, I constantly evaluate my dive protocols based on expierences I come into contact with. They need not be full blown accidents and near misses are just as important.

2) Discussiong about accidents/near misses allows individuals to question accepted procedures and find thier weak spots. So long as this is done in an objective manner, all parties involved will benefit from the free exchange and it just might start a change of procedure to prevent the accident from happening again.

Mike

There are a lot of people out there that seem to think there is something of urgent importance to be gleaned from each and every incident that occurs. Another thread is currently running that asks whether such analysis might lead one to give up diving. That would certainly be a solid result of incident analysis. Are there any others?

I am asking three things:

1) Can you list anything you have changed in your diving as a result of armchair incident analysis?

2) Have you ever helped clarify, resolve or bring about any good by armchair analysis?

3) If the answer to both 1 and 2 are no, isn't this form of armchair analysis the cyber equivalent of freeway rubbernecking?