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enough to empty the low-pressure hoses and confirm
the SPG needle didn’t drop. By checking it just before
you enter the water, you reduce the possibility of a
“helpful” deckhand introducing an error. Always think
through the consequences of not completing this
valve check. Starting a dive with a cylinder turned off
could result in a fatal outcome — a recent fatality in
the U.K. was caused by this sequence of events.
I believe the reason people don’t check their valves
(and other life-support equipment) before they get
into the water is because “nothing went wrong last
time, and so it will be OK this time.” This heuristic
works well sometimes, but activities that involve
life-support equipment are not the place to gamble.
Physical checklists help reduce the probability of an
action not being completed. Conducting a proper
buddy check in which the divers physically see each
other throughout the activity further reduces the
probability of omissions and failures. This advice
applies to instructors and divemasters, too. Holding
a supervisory position doesn’t exempt one from
forgetting something; furthermore, students and
guided divers look to dive leaders as exemplars of best
practices — if the leaders do not complete checks,
they won’t either. Finally, leaders must be able to help
the divers they’re with, and they may not be able to do
so without a fully opened pillar valve.
AD
MEET THE EXPERTS
Peter Lee Buzzacott, Ph.D.
obtained his master’s and
doctoral degrees at the University of Western Australia while
studying recreational scuba diving injuries and diving morbidity
risk factors. He is certified in advanced trimix and advanced
cave diving and has instructed and certified more than 500
divers. Buzzacott has logged more than 2,000 dives around the
world and has written more than 100 dive-related articles for
publications. He is published extensively in scientific literature
and has won awards for his diving achievements and scientific
contributions to diving.
Gareth Lock
is an accomplished technical diver and widely
published underwater photographer. In 2010 he formed Cognitas
Incident Research and Management with the aim of improving
diving safety by challenging current practices and encouraging
a “Just Culture.” In support of this effort, Lock started a doctoral
program in January 2012, examining the role of human factors
in diving incidents. He has presented at a number of national
and international diving conferences on improving safety in
scuba diving.
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877-371-1113
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