Key Features from the 2020 report
■ The number of incidents recorded ( 128 ) in 2020 was significantly lower than the average over the last five years
■ It is likely that there was far less diving in 2020 than previous years
■ There is a strong correlation between incidents and the months when there were the least Covid-19 related restrictions
■ Despite the reduction in incidents , there were still sadly six fatalities
■ One fatality took place while cave diving , another while snorkelling and a third was pre-diving
■ Analysis of incidents seems to show eight where Immersion Pulmonary Oedema ( IPO ) is likely to have been a factor
■ The distribution of incidents across the different categories remains proportionally consistent with previous years
■ BSAC incident reports continue to be the best source of information on recreational diving incidents
Safe diving guidance
Help keep diving safe
If you have been involved in or witnessed an incident , please report it – in confidence – and help BSAC to continue to shape a safe future for diving . Whether you are a BSAC diver or dive with another agency , a recreational or technical diver or if the incident happened in the UK or overseas , we want to hear about it .
You can report incidents confidentially at any time online at bsac . com / reportanincident
“ We ’ re excited to get going with this new series to help clubs . We ’ ve consulted volunteers and clubs to deliver a broader set of themes and topics designed to help clubs with some of their greatest challenges of today .”
With the most cost-effective way of running the sessions online , the new webinar Know and Grow series of seven key sessions are now set to run from 11 January 2022 :
Know and Grow – The big wins 11 Jan 19:30 Know and Grow – Club culture 18 Jan 19:30 Know and Grow – Recruitment and retention 25 Jan 19:30 Know and Grow – Social media 1 Feb 19:30 Know and Grow – Collaboration 8 Feb 19:30 Know and Grow – Diving Officer Q & As 15 Feb 19:30 Know and Grow – Membership Secretary Q & As 22 Feb 19:30
For more information and to book , go to bsac . com / webinars
Dive with
Dom
SCUBAHUB
Meet Dom Robinson , BSAC ’ s new Head of Diving and Training
You ’ re one month into your new role as Head of Diving and Training ( HoDT ) for BSAC . How are things going ? As you ’ d expect I ’ m still very much finding my feet , so it ’ s probably a bit early to say . Ask me again in six months ’ time !
Even though I ’ ve been a member of BSAC for 30 years , I have been surprised at the scale and variety of work that is taking place at HQ . At the very top , there ’ s a huge amount of work to develop the BSAC strategy but at all levels the team is incredibly busy responding to the multitude of inquiries from members and looking to put the organisation on a sustainable footing after Covid-19 .
What ’ s been the first project to get your teeth into ? By coincidence , the very first project is one that I ’ ve also been involved with in my volunteer role as the Technical Chief Examiner . The BSAC approach to diving is to be a broad church , which is why I think the Primary Donate Workshop is a welcome addition to our portfolio . The reaction from members seems to be very positive , which is exactly what we wanted .
Why did you want to take on the post ? After running a military centre for eight years , I was ready for a change but wanted to continue doing something I loved . In many ways , the HoDT role is a perfect one for me and I consider myself exceptionally fortunate to have been offered the opportunity . Already I ’ ve seen some really exciting work , including the revisions to Dive Leader and opportunities to contribute to a variety of underwater projects such as Operation Oyster , and there are more in the pipeline . It is great to be involved with that !
How did you get involved in diving and BSAC ? Aged 11 , I was living in Papua New Guinea when my father put an adult set of diving equipment on me and took me underwater . As you can appreciate , that was a mind-blowing experience that I have never forgotten . When I joined the military , I was fortunate enough to join the BSAC special branch in my base and gain BSAC qualifications through the Adventurous Training system . Although it gave me the opportunity to dive all over the world , I remain a huge fan of UK diving and I regularly dive with my branch ( Plymouth Sound Divers ). Those of you on the UK Viz Reports Facebook group will see my posts there !
What ’ s your favourite SDC and why ? The fantastic thing about BSAC is that we offer Skill Development Courses ( SDCs ) for everything associated with diving ; courses such as Boat Handling and Compressor Operation are extremely important for branches to operate independently .
Although qualifying new divers is really fun , I ’ ve always enjoyed working with more experienced people , which is why Accelerated Decompression Procedures ( ADP ) is my favourite SDC . Looking at the number of people who complete the course every year , it is also clear that I ’ m not alone in viewing it as a brilliant way to take your diving to the next level without huge expense .
What do you have in the pipeline for the coming year to 18 months ? I ’ ve got to be careful what I say , as otherwise I ’ ll get in trouble , but I don ’ t think it ’ s a great secret that we need to revisit many of our courses . Not only do we need to review the content to make sure it ’ s still accurate and relevant , we also need to consider how the courses are delivered . I think one lesson of the pandemic is that people now expect to be given a variety of options including face-to-face , online and / or electronic learning , so facilitating that is really important . It would also be useful to have the option for some of our larger courses to be broken down into smaller chunks that permit a more progressive approach .
BSAC has earned a reputation for excellence in training , but where do you think there may be room for improvement ? The famous bodybuilder Eugene Sandow said , “ Life is movement . Once you stop moving , you ’ re dead ,” which I ’ ve always taken to mean that you should never stop improving . For me , the ‘ new ’ BSAC website is a huge improvement over its predecessor but we need to continue to develop our IT . The BSAC app is a hugely important part of this and I think we ’ ll see it continue to get better and better .
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