Tougher Standards?

[WetPup]

So, in news that will come as no surprise to anyone at all, there are calls for tougher industry standards given that there have been 6 snorkelling and diving deaths in Australia in the last week alone.

Calls for age restrictions, tougher medical standards, tougher training standards...

Which won't actually solve the problem here. Half of the cases in the last week occurred on private independent trips with guys who were shore diving or had their own boat. Only 3 of the 6 cases occurred on commercially operated dive trips. How exactly do they plan to police the "tougher medical standards" when so many people don't actually go on commercial dive trips? You do your medical for your certs, then nada (if you're doing your own thing).

Many divers in Australia don't use commercial operators to do their diving, they've got their own boats or they shore dive. You can't police that. People need to police themselves when they're getting on a bit or have health problems. You can't regulate stupidity.

Also, while I'm not against tougher training standards, that is well beyond the scope of anything Australia can control. That's a commercial standard, and to be totally honest, unless PADI changes (given that they have the overwhelming majority of the marketshare in Australia), there's nothing the government here can really do.

Thoughts?

 

[VikingDives]

If I was a government official looking to regulate diving, I think I'd use flight training as a model. I hope that this doesn't happen, but there might be some upsides.

I could see check out dives with a certifier not affiliated with the trainer as being a potential gate keeper against bad training/trainers, and poorly trained divers. There's a whole lot of downsides that I could envision, but my guess is things will not change drastically any time soon

 

[drrich2]

How many were snorkeler deaths? Are they calling for tougher 'standards' on snorkeling? Wonder how that'd be policed?

Richard.

 

[WetPup]

Sure, but that's not going to stop certified divers going out on non-commercially run trips and diving beyond their training level, going out without the appropriate safety equipment, and diving with a known medical condition that would otherwise rule you out. Commercially run trips where they're checking paperwork, cert levels, medical clearances, and the gear you're carrying can go some way to mitigating this. But with so many divers going out and doing their own thing and not diving with a dive club or other commercial operator, there's absolutely no way to enforce any of it.

My concern is that it's going to place an undue burden on people who are doing the right thing and these incidents will continue to occur because there are people diving and doing their own thing and avoiding all the checks that would otherwise be in place.

 

[WetPup]

How many were snorkeler deaths? Are they calling for tougher 'standards' on snorkeling? Wonder how that'd be policed?

Richard.

Just the 2. There was another snorkelling incident yesterday but didn't result in fatalities, so limited media attention.

How would it be policed? Well what they're suggesting is that anybody over a certain age requires a medical clearance. Whether that be for snorkelling or scuba. But again, I fail to see how they can enforce this unless it's on a commercially run trip. If you've got your own boat or you're diving/snorkelling from shore, then they can't do jack.

 

[Hemrick]

I can see that the government being worried about the number of incidents looking bad but does anyone have any data on the number of incidents that happen in Australia vs the rest of the world?

while zero accidents might be the goal it is also a matter of reasonable steps. If Australia does in fact have a higher number of dive accidents than the rest of the world then we might need some changes however, if the governement is just over reacting then they are just going to shoot themselves (and the industry) in the foot.

as has already been mentioned the training standards are internatinal, any changes to those will causes issues for tourists who come here already qualified. All of the big tourist dive companies i have seen up in Cairns already require DMs to lead dives. I dont see any exta safety equipment that would have help the recent incidents other than a PLB for the guy off the Yongala.

We might end up as the most restrictive dive location in the world.

 

[KeithG]

knee jerk media reaction.

how many people slipped and fell in their bathtubs during the same time frame?

 

[WetPup]

Google searching:
Fatality rates calculated per exposure vary from 0.57 per 100,000 dives in Australia to 4 (range 3-6) per 100,000 dives in Orkney, Scotland.

From DAN-AP data:

I think when you look at it in terms of absolute numbers, it doesn't look great. Law of averages - the more dives undertaken the more incidents will occur. But when you look at it in terms of fatalities per number of dives undertaken, Australia is quite low.

 

[lowviz]

WetPup, my tuppence...

This issue is a snowflake in a snowstorm. Here is the real problem: The Current State of Head and Neck Injuries in Extreme Sports
Your country/continent was founded by a rougher sort, No? I would avoid providing any foothold for those who prefer a nanny state.

 

[WetPup]

knee jerk media reaction.

how many people slipped and fell in their bathtubs during the same time frame?

Yes. But the government will likely listen to appease the tourism industry and mandate new regulations as a consequence. Diving in Queensland is already totally OTT when it comes to regulations, and a spate of incidents like this (coincidental or not) will just make it worse