Deep River Underwater Club (DRUC)
  Deep River, Ontario 

http://www.druc.ca

DRUC Safety/Risk Management Program

(Contact: Marc Audet)

Scuba diving is a sport that carries risks that require careful management.  Effective management of these risks, and safety in general, are of paramount importance in the operation of the DRUC.  The club is in the process of preparing a safety assurance guideline that establishes the basic elements that represent a reasonable approach in assuring safety and in managing risks.  These elements follow from common sense, industry practices, regulations (where applicable), and from the NAUI Risk Management Handbook.  The guideline describes the safety elements important to all aspects of the club’s scope of operation, from organizing/running dive events and providing training, to maintaining equipment, renting equipment, and investigating any unsafe events. 

The fundamental concept in the NAUI Risk Management Handbook that qualified divers are responsible for their own actions and for their own safety while diving is a key element of the DRUC’s approach in managing risks.  The Safe Diver Decree below reflects this view.

 

Safe Diver Decree

TO BE A GOOD SAFE DIVER, I SHOULD:

  1. Maintain good mental and physical fitness for diving.  Avoid being under the influence of alcohol or dangerous drugs when diving.  Keep proficient in diving skills, striving to increase them through continuous education and reviewing them in controlled conditions after inactivity in diving.
  2. Be familiar with my dive sites.  If not, obtain a formal diving orientation from a knowledgeable, local source.  If diving conditions are worse than those in which I am experienced, postpone diving or select an alternate site with better conditions. Engage only in diving activities consistent with my training and experience.
  3. Use complete, well-maintained, reliable equipment with which I am familiar: and inspect it for correct fit and function prior to each dive.  Deny use of my equipment to uncertified divers.  Always have a buoyancy compensation device and submersible pressure gauge when scuba diving.
  4. Listen carefully to dive briefings and directions, and respect advice of those supervising my diving activities.
  5. Adhere to the buddy-system throughout every dive.  Plan dives – including communications, procedures for reuniting in case of separation, and emergency procedures – with my buddy.
  6. Be proficient in dive table usage.  Make and allow a margin of safety.  Have a means to monitor depth and time underwater.  Limit maximum depth to my level of training and experience.  Ascend at a rate not faster than 30 feet per minute.  In addition, a safety stop of not less than 15 feet for 2 or 3 minutes is highly recommended after every no-decompression dive.
  7. Maintain proper buoyancy.  Adjust weighting at the surface for neutral buoyancy while underwater.  Be buoyant for surface swimming and resting. Have weights clear for easy removal, and establish buoyancy when in distress while diving.
  8. Breathe properly for diving.  Never breath-hold, or skip breath when breathing compressed air, and avoid excessive hyperventilation when breath-hold diving (e.g., snorkelling).  Avoid over-exertion while in and under water and dive within my limitations.

 

 

Dive COORDINATOR Check List

Name of Event:                                                                                                                     

Date:                                  Location:                                                                                    

Name of Dive Coordinator:                                                                                                   

  Task Notes/Comments
  1. All participants confirmed to be full club members, with all mandatory forms completed (application, signed liability release waivers, copied certification records).  
  2. Sufficient and appropriate safety equipment confirmed to be present (e.g., first aid kit, O2). Items:
  3. Sufficient and appropriate safety divers confirmed to be present. Divers:
  Pre-Dive Briefing
  4. Area overview given (contours, depths, thermoclines, features/formations, and any unknown aspects).  
  5. Dive site hazards discussed (known and unknown aspects). Main hazards:
  6. Divers confirmed to be in buddy-pairs (solos prohibited, 3-ways discouraged).  
  7. General logistical and communication matters discussed (general schedule of activities, local facilities, water entry/exit, hand signals, emergency signals, other signals).  
  8. Divers assigned the responsibility of establishing dive plans (depth, range, objective, minimum air, qualification/skill/experience limitations).  
  9. Divers assigned the responsibility of establishing lost buddy procedure.  
  10. Divers reminded of minimum equipment requirements (BC with LP inflator, alt air source, timer, depth gauge, compass) – divers must take responsibility for deficiencies.  
  11. Divers assigned the responsibility of keeping track of their own time, depth, and air supply and for pre-dive checks.  
  12. Divers assigned the responsibility of determining whether or not they have sufficient training, experience, and skill to make any dive based upon the information provided about the site.  
  13. Emergency action plan discussed (nearest telephone, first aiders present, emergency transportation to EMS).  
  14. Divers reminded that they are responsible for their own safety. Read script on reverse
  Post-Dive Briefing
  15. Discussion of overall performance.  
  16. Recognition of good performance/behaviour.  
  17. Identification and discussion of general problems (prevention, resolution, lessons-learned).  
  18. Divers reminded to log the dive in their log books.  

 

Signature of Dive Coordinator:                                                                                              

NOTE: Records of dive events must be retained for a minimum of two years – the completed checklist must be provided to the DRUC Events Coordinator for retention.

 

 

Safety Responsibility Decree (Assumption of Risk)

 

As a certified scuba diver, you are responsible for your own safety and for managing the risks that are inherent with the sport. 

Because your certification qualifies you to dive independently, there is no requirement for supervision – we are only coordinating the logistical aspects of this dive event. 

We have done our best to inform you of the dive’s risks, and of any uncertainties or unknowns. 

If anybody does not understand any aspects of the dive site or the risks, please speak now…

Knowing the risks, and understanding your limits of training and experience, it is your responsibility to manage the risks, and you are fully responsible for your own actions.

If anybody feels uncomfortable with the dive you have planned, your dive plan should be adjusted to accommodate your comfort level, and this adjustment could include deciding to not dive.

Safe Dive!!…

 

 
 
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April, 2008		  http://www.druc.ca/