Supremely, diver safety is more important than anything else in diving – it is paramount. Therefore, our first priority is always diver safety, so in training and guiding divers’ decision making, the first question we need to ask ourselves as professionals is how a decision might reasonably affect diver risk. Frankly speaking, nearly every decision we make as dive professionals has a risk management element. As a dive instructor, boat operator, divemaster, or other diving related professional, you do this routinely – evaluating conditions, diver and instructional team abilities and experience, verifying standards, checking gear, etc. Such decisions require purposeful consideration of how they might affect safety. It’s important to recognize this because, while risk management is obvious with some decisions, with others it may not be.

As an example, let’s use a regular shore dive site you are familiar with. In your pre-dive evaluation, you always check waves, current, visibility and know exactly what you’re looking at. You have a standard operating procedure. Suppose one day it rained unusually hard the previous night, leaving the hill down to the site slick and muddy. It’s not something you usually pay attention to, but the decision to have students walk down it could have consequences. The site has changed, making it more likely that a student (or you) could slip and fall while carrying or wearing gear. It would be important to attempt to mitigate this risk in your instructions and approach to walking down to the site. The point is that by realizing every decision has a risk element to manage, you notice and plan accordingly to reduce risk.

Risk management is also imperative when making decisions for yourself or staff. Unquestionably, because of our training, judgment, and experience, we dive in conditions, use gear, or take on tasks inappropriate for diving beginners without incurring unreasonable added risk ourselves. But there’s a limit – something to note especially when it might be tempting to take on more risk for yourself.

Unintended Consequences

Decisions can have unintended consequences if not thought all the way through, so it’s important to look beyond the obvious. Recognizing that every decision has a risk-management element can help mitigate this because it prompts you to keep thinking things through in an active surveillance mode. Certain risk management decisions should not ever be decisions. These include following accepted dive safety practices, applying conservative judgment, following standards and not cutting corners. Your duty is to make risk management decisions about how to apply these conservatively in a situation – but not whether to do them. The only decision here is to decide to do everything you know you’re supposed to do, always, as a PADI Pro. Do this within the context of your own experience and training, the ability and experience of the divers you are supervising, community and PADI training standards, and variable environmental conditions each day. Do it to the best of your ability, always applying good judgment.

Safe diving,
Drew Richardson
President & CEO

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