TRAINING
Laissez-Faire – Not When Supervising Dives! – by Al Hornsby, owner, Al Hornsby Productions, Singapore Al is regarded as one of the industry’s most experienced risk management litigation executives.
Most of us have probably heard the French term “laissez-faire,” which de- scribes an attitude of letting things take their course without interfering. As a lifestyle issue, it’s a comfortable way of accepting whatever comes your way. When it comes to supervising divers,
wrong direction, heading away from shore into deeper water. As time passed and air ran low, the older boy tried to get the younger to the surface, but as he testified in the lawsuit, with the leaking BCD, over-weighting, and weights in the BCD pockets, he could not lift the other boy off the bottom, describing it as if, “the boy was stuck onto the bottom with cement.” Eventually, out of air himself, he ascended successfully and waved for help. Unfortunately, rescuers could not locate the
however, it is the polar opposite of what is needed. Instead, it’s a careful eye and quick responses when things begin to
go wrong – not placid acceptance. One of the most tragic accidents in industry history came about largely because of laissez-faire. The dive was in Clear Lake in the US Mountain West, at a kids’ summer camp. With lots of outdoor activi-
other boy until the following day. The trial was heartbreaking, with the surviving boy blaming himself for not being able to save his new friend, and the settlement against a dive industry insurance
policy was one of the largest up until that time… all because of poor practices by the in- structor and laissez-faire responses at every crit- ical point.
ties, a high point was introductory scuba, provided by a nearby dive shop. The situation was ideal… the water (I dived it) is clear and calm, with a gradually sloping bottom covered with small, smooth stones, and a long pier adjacent to the diving area. The instructor had two young, teenaged boys. Ac- cording to the surviving boy, the instructor’s weight check was to put a weight belt on his candidates, have them kneel on the bottom in the shallows, then to push them gently from behind, adding weights to the BCD pockets until the push would cause them to topple for- ward. (Laissez-faire #1?) In this case, the younger diver ended up with more than 30 pounds. According to the buddy, the victim was so heavy that he could not swim, just crawl across the bottom. (Laissez-faire #2?) Also, his BCD leaked significantly. (Laissez-faire #3?) Heading shoreward at the dive’s end, in about 12 feet of water, the instructor noticed an adult diver floating at the surface. Telling the boys to stay on the bottom, he went up “to make sure the diver was okay.” (Laissez- faire #4?) The diver assured that he was fine, that he had just gradually floated up; he and the instructor talked for “about 5 minutes.” (Laissez-faire #5? You get the picture.) Below, as the two adults had floated away, the younger, over-weighted boy became frightened and signaled that he wanted to go back. In the late afternoon water, with the wind having come up a bit, the viz had lessened and the boys, following the line, unfortunately went the
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