The vital importance of safety
By Jonas Arvidsson
Do you drive in one hundred and thirty on a road marked seventy?
Anyone who has ever traveled by car or by bus knows that there are small round signs with numbers on them standing along the roadside. According to rules that all motorists have to follow, these signs show the highest permissible speed. This is a fact one learns when getting a driver's license. In reality, interpretations vary. Some believe that they mean a recommended speed, others are convinced that these signs show the lowest allowable speed and become highly indignant about all of the slow-pokes blocking their progress.
The majority of those who dive today have taken a course to learn the techniques and to get a certificate. Everyone is informed of the rules we have for safe diving during these courses, which do not differ significantly between different educational organizations, since they are mostly based on the mistakes that past divers have made for us. When Jacques and the boys started in the 40's, they were forced to find their own way. The reference material today is fairly extensive, but an unfortunate part of human nature seems to be to refuse to learn from history. Why do we continue to make the same mistakes again and again?
Rules are there to be broken!
The introductory example shows that we don't have particularly great respect for the speed limits on our roads, but it is not only there that we consciously break laws and rules. Tax evasion and taking advantage of welfare benefits have become a national pastime, and people steal in stores and on the job.
We do this in spite of the fact that we are fully aware that it is not permitted and that we can get into trouble if someone catches us. What encourages our dishonesty is that the risk of being caught is thought of as being nonexistent. The right foot has an undeniable tendency to become heavy when we sit in the driver's seat of a car, but it automatically becomes light when we meet a police car! When authority is near, or is assumed to be near, we become goody-goods.
Mechanical or mental
Accident reports and statistics often talk about the mechanical aspects of the fatal accident or incidents which occurred while diving. This is fairly natural since diving gear is a concrete aspect of the event. Investigators can fairly easily describe which equipment the diver or divers had, how they worked and how much air there was left. Significantly more difficult is to say why the divers acted in the way that they did. In the incident report that the educational organizations put together there is a clear trend toward more reports about problems in advanced diving, for example cave diving, ice diving and wreck diving. What is it then that makes people want to do these "cool" dives?
A large number of those who dive to beat records are young guys, the type of people who just got their driver's license and are therefore world champions in both Formula 1 and rally racing - until the day comes when there is something solid in the road! Loads of people have made the same mistake before and some of them have survived to talk about it, but it happens again and again. Those who have gotten this lesson understand that the round signs are there for a reason. During the dive course, the information about the risks in diving cannot have missed the students, even if some instructors find it difficult to talk about the "negative" aspects. In spite of everything, it is a fact that diving can quickly go from a totally soulful peace and deep enjoyment to a life-threatening condition!
The attitude problem
What is it that makes a beginning student sit and nod and agree with everything that the instructor says during the lessons, and afterwards go out and do the exact opposite? No deeper analysis is necessary to conclude that either the person in question is dumb or they don't want to understand. Both possibilities create a big problem which can scarcely be eliminated through laws or tighter rules for education. One must believe that an adult can take responsibility for his or her own life. Those who attempt advanced diving without the right equipment and training would have pressed the limits even if they had participated in other sports. The group that is not satisfied with ordinary diving naturally increases along with the number of new divers and their curiosity and interest must be satisfied in some way. We can clearly see this tendency in the increased interest for "technical diving". A serious interest in going further means education in nitrox diving etc.. This way it is possible to increase knowledge and skills under controlled circumstances. It is better to satisfy one's curiosity in this manner than to go out and break records without knowing what one is doing.
Technical diving is still a limited phenomenon and will most likely continue to be so for many years to come, but the rest of us have a great deal to learn from the philosophy which typifies this way of diving, among other things that one takes a greater responsibility for oneself and one's own dives. For many years the educational organizations have convinced us that the only way to dive safely is to always dive in pairs and to always have an alternative source of air. This created dependence on another diver and often gives a false sense of security which is increased by the idea that pairs should be bound together. Talking about solo diving is like praising the devil in church, but by training and equipping divers to handle more of their own problems, pair diving becomes safer. Two divers under stress together have difficulty solving problems. Something as simple as a "pony-bottle" would solve many ordinary underwater problems without the help of the partner. Regulator freezing and running out of air are two examples.
The equipment problem
Regardless of how well mechanical or electronic devices are constructed, some of them break. The manufacturer has still another factor to consider - economics. It is possible to make better things than we have today but does anyone want to pay the higher price? The balance between economy and dependability can be difficult to find sometimes. Sometimes cheaper material and manufacturing methods lead to shortcomings such as manometer hoses cracking, or the belt holding up our weights sliding out of the plastic buckle.
One of the most common equipment faults is freezing. It is not only during the winter that a frost shield is required on the regulator, but during all dives in cold water. The problem can be avoided by mounting a frost shield on the regulator and by making sure to get dry air when filling. Most regulators that are sold for diving in cold water can be shielded and it costs a few hundred (Swedish crowns) at the most, so why not do it from the beginning? All diving does not take place in tropical water. Unfortunately there are an increasing number of reports of too much moisture in the air. It is not possible to detect this by test breathing before the dive, so it is left completely up to the filling station. Their control certificate on the wall says nothing about the quality of the air presently available. Nobody does air analysis immediately before a filter change!
Problems with equipment occur, but they are few and above all, very easy to avoid. By using equipment which is left in regularly for service with an authorized shop and by always doing a thorough check on the surface before the dive, most problems can be avoided.
Can it be zero?
Even though there are many laws and rules in most countries, few set limits concerning sport diving. It is permitted to dive yourself to death! Accidents happen everywhere and in the most unexpected situations, so why should we be the exceptions? Naturally, we can be better and we are getting better all of the time, but the number of deaths or incidents are so few that the reduction is barely measurable with statistics. Diving is not included in the statistics on accident laden sports since there are so few accidents. It is possible to show with statistics that bowling is more dangerous than diving. No wonder Mark Twain[1] got upset!
The official ambition is that the number of accidents and incidents in diving will diminish, but it is up to you whether or not it will be so. The authorities do a lot to make our roads a safer place to be. It still doesn't matter how good of a driver you are, another idiot can come and run into you at any time. When diving it is you yourself and nobody else who decides whether or not you come up alive!
[1]Mark Twain: American author. Has among other things written "Huckleberry Finn" and coined the expression, "there are lies, damned lies and statistics".