recomendations of rules

[steve-k]

we have a debate going on about weather bsac have rules or recomendations in relation to diving depth

it clearley states that the maximum recomended limit on air is 50m, and what the depth limits are for each qualification


what are bsac policies if clubs allow diving deeper than recomended?
are there any litigtion comebacks?


for instance
you have a sports diver who has dived regulaly for 15 years, including many depths of up to 50m, he/she just never progressed there training, but are quite clearley capable and experianced to do the planed 40m dive, the do and committee have no issues with the diver doind the depth


you have a diver leader on a kiss rebreather diving with another dive leader, who is familiar with rebreather diving. again the do and committee dont have any issue

solo diving,
i know personaly of a few clubs where it is comman practice that if you get split up with your budie you continue the dive
clearly this if planed solo diving, i have done this myself many times (this is how i was trained), this said no trainee is taught this, it is just an unwritten rule within the experianced divers


you have a dive planned and it is 35m you have a trainee sports diver wishing to do the dive, his instructor is happy that he is more than capable of doing the dive and wants to buddie him on the dive, again the do has no issues




all of the above have happened in various clubs,
now a recomendation is just that, and if the do who is ultimatley responsable is happy, then i dont see a problem

[Edward Haynes]

There have been many discussions around this subject and the only thing we know for sure.

Every case is going to be different and it will be the Courts that will decide where responsibility lies - when as case is brought before them. However, the recommendations of the organisation an individual belongs to will be considered by the Courts.

My philosophy is ?What would I say to the Judge or Coroner if I was on the reserving end of a claim??

Edward Haynes

[ken adams]

Steve,

I attended an IFC not too long ago, and this type of question came up. The sort of message I got from what the regional coach and several other members of the coaching team said, was as follows:

If people want to dive to a certain depth, at an un-suitable grade, then there is nothing to stop them.

The BSAC have come up with some "safe practice" guidelines which they want you to follow - such as a sports diver not going deeper than 35m etc.

These guidelines are what the BSAC base their safety on and is what their third party insurance is based on.

So basically, BSAC RECCOMEND the diving limits for the different grades, and so if you go deeper than the limit and something goes wrong, then the buck stops with the diver.

If something went wrong, you would not be covered by the BSAC insurance.

So if for example, an instructor took an Ocean Diver to 30m (deeper than the reccomended depth), and the trainee panicked, came up too fast and got a bend, then it would be the instructors fault and the trainee could sue the instructor. And the court case would be between the instructor and the trainee. Whereas, if the same thing happened at 15m (inside the trainees allowed limit) then that would be within the safe guidelines set down by the BSAC, and so the insurance would cover you and the case would be between the trainee and the BSAC/Instructor. See the difference?

I am starting to waffle on a bit here but in esscence:

A dive within reccomended guidelines is covered by BSAC insurance. A dive outside them is not.

I hope I have made some sense!

The link below should take you to the BSAC Safe Diving Practices page

Hope this helps

Ken

[Keith Lawrence(BSAC)]

If something went wrong, you would not be covered by the BSAC insurance.

Ken

As Edward has pointed out, and has been discussed on these forums many times - your simple statement above IS NOT TRUE.

The correct statement is along the lines of "diving outside of BSAC recommendations MAY affect the insurance cover". There is no simple black or white answer, it is not up to you, me or even the insurance company to decide on what is and isn't covered - it is up to a court of law and it will depend on the exact circumstances.

Regards

Keith L

[ken adams]

:=If something went wrong, you would not be covered by the BSAC insurance.

Ken

As Edward has pointed out, and has been discussed on these forums many times - your simple statement above IS NOT TRUE.

The correct statement is along the lines of "diving outside of BSAC recommendations MAY affect the insurance cover". There is no simple black or white answer, it is not up to you, me or even the insurance company to decide on what is and isn't covered - it is up to a court of law and it will depend on the exact circumstances.

Regards

Keith L

Sorry for that Keith.

I stand corrected, and will do more resarch before giving an answer in future. I am glad you said so, because that was the idea I had. So thanks for clearing that up.

Ken.

[John Williams]

:=:=If something went wrong, you would not be covered by the BSAC insurance.
:=
:=Ken
:=
:=As Edward has pointed out, and has been discussed on these forums many times - your simple statement above IS NOT TRUE.
:=
:=The correct statement is along the lines of "diving outside of BSAC recommendations MAY affect the insurance cover". There is no simple black or white answer, it is not up to you, me or even the insurance company to decide on what is and isn't covered - it is up to a court of law and it will depend on the exact circumstances.
:=
:=Regards
:=
:=Keith L

Sorry for that Keith.

I stand corrected, and will do more resarch before giving an answer in future. I am glad you said so, because that was the idea I had. So thanks for clearing that up.

Ken.

However it is worth noting that if you follow BSAC recommendations then you WILL be covered.

If you fail to follow the recommendations you MAY NOT be covered.

There is only one way to be sure!

John