Mitigating Risk

[adrenalineblues]

I hear quite about about how dangerous diving is. I think a good awareness of the danger is a good thing to have. What I don't hear, well atleast directly spoken very often is that there is alot a diver can do to make diving considerably safer. I do see a lot of good advice delivered. Even better today is the amount of ongoing education I see. What I dont see is a huge direct emphasis on Mitigating Risk. Maybe I have just been out of the loop for a while. Or maybe its just something that is absent. In any case here is my .02 worth.

I have wandered from Diving to Skydiving to Motocross and several other sports. I think I took the most information on mitigating risk away from the Skydiving community. In that community you will find a group of people much the same as divers. The majority are well aware of the dangers of their sport. They fully realize you can do everything right on a skydive and still die. Though the odds of that are slim they are not non-existent. I personally view diving the same way. Again this is another sport where you can do everything right and still die.

So what do we do about that? Identify and mitigate risk. Mitigating the risk is the easy part. Identifying it is the hard part. The ability to identify risk comes from experience. The ability to mitigate risk comes from experience, good judgment and common sense.

In any case it doesn't matter what discipline you follow. It all boils down to mitigating the risk you face on each and every dive. Though you can never totally eliminate it. You can be very proactive in reducing it. That does'nt mean never push your limits, but rather do it slowly and with as much control as possible. Learn your gear inside and out. Plan your dive and dive your plan. Know your emergency procedures and PRACTICE them. Always continue your education (yes this is one I am lacking on). There is a ton more I can toss out there. In reality it is all about what you do in your chosen discipline to indentify and mitigate risk. So I suppose I will stop rambling and leave you with the question I think every diver needs to ask before they do something that adds risk to thier dive....

"What is the worst thing that can happen to me if I do this?"

 

[CD_in_Chitown]

I don't know who you're listening to but its all based on mitigating risk. I want to stay underwater a long time, that presents risk 1, a person cannot survive along time without breathing a certain PO2 oxygen.... SCUBA in general mitigates that risk and many other inherent in the operation of the equipment itself. Then there's gear that introduces risk that has to be evaluated on a risk vs. reward scale, here's where you really want to go crazy with risk mitigation. How can I remove enough of those risks to tip the balance in the reward direction and justify attempting this to myself.

 

[Guba]

The only statement I even question is the first one...the one about listening to people who talk about how dangerous diving is. I believe you need to listen to another circle of friends concerning that. Diving is not supposed to be "risky".
Personally, I plan to return to my loved ones every time I go diving. I don't feel I take any excessive risks whatsoever when I dive. And that's why I agree with all the other statements you made concerning mitigating risks. EVERY TIME we dive we are to follow a set of rules that include concepts such as staying within our training, maintaining our equipment properly, backing up essential gear, keeping our skills sharp and learning as much as we can in order to minimize risk by being ready for possible problems. Certainly, there is the catastrophic event that can claim us, but those can happen in any situation or activity. That's why I don't consider diving particularly dangerous. If one plays by the rules, they should feel relatively safe.

 

[adrenalineblues]

No diving is not supposed to be risky. It flat out no matter how you slice it has associated risk.... Anyone that does not acknowledge that shouldnt be diving.

Yeah CD it is all based on mitigating risk... My comment is that it is not preached as heavily as it should be in that context...

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

I think diving is a lot less dangerous than driving on the highway. (especially here in the South!) In fact, I think diving is safer than a lot of things that we do from day to day. There is risk management, and there is self management.

Risk management: You wear the proper protective gear, properly functioning gear, when performing the activity of your choice. Welding, riding a motorcycle, hang gliding, diving, woodworking, etc.

Self management: Managing your emotions, thoughts, and actions. Keeping your cool and being methodical and lucid when things go wrong, assessing your own skills and training in a very honest manner, being familiar with your gear, being familiar with yourself so that you know how you're going to react in a stressful environment. (Entanglement, zero viz, losing your mask, etc.) It's also about being responsible TO yourself and getting the proper training, continuing to learn, and continuing to hone your skills.

Both types of management are essential. Risk management is the easier side of the equation. Self management calls for some reflection and soul searching.

My two psi's worth.

 

[CD_in_Chitown]

No diving is not supposed to be risky. It flat out no matter how you slice it has associated risk....

I don't know that I agree with that, compared to sitting on the dock diving is risky.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Good post Frank, I agree. I too think diving is a safe sport. There are risks you take every day and diving is not risk free but as Frank said, your chances of something bad happening are greater on the drive to the dive site. At times there is an over-emphasis of how dangerous diving is but for the most part I think it is to remind divers not to get too comfortable or worse, complacent.
I would qualify that by saying if you choose to make it dangerous, diving can be VERY dangerous.

 

[adrenalineblues]

Good post Frank, I agree. I too think diving is a safe sport. There are risks you take every day and diving is not risk free but as Frank said, your chances of something bad happening are greater on the drive to the dive site. At times there is an over-emphasis of how dangerous diving is but for the most part I think it is to remind divers not to get too comfortable or worse, complacent.
I would qualify that by saying if you choose to make it dangerous, diving can be VERY dangerous.

I think along the same lines. Diving is a safe sport. I am not saying it is an unsafe activity. The reason I think it is a safe sport is is probably different than yours and yours reasons may be different from others.

I was actually striving to point out that the ability to identify and mitigate risk is one of the biggest tools any adventure sports enthusiast can equip themselves with. This kind of stems from the DIR/Solo/ who is right who is wrong what practice is best stuff going on. I am not saying anyone is right or wrong or what is good or whats bad... Rather what I "think" adds significantly to safety while diving.

I think I said what I meant that time... hehehe

 

[TSandM]

I'm big on risk mitigation . . . it comes along with my occupation.

One of the reasons I dive the way I do is that I perceive that it minimizes risk. Compulsive attention to planning and communication, meticulous gear checks, and regular practice of emergency procedures seem to me to be obvious risk avoidance strategies. It is also my personal opinion -- and that is not universal -- that diving with a similar trained buddy is a risk mitigation step.

Since my hope is to move forward into a much higher risk area of diving (caves), I think it behooves me to learn to avoid the risks I can.