DIVE LAWYER: Dive school staff numbers

The proper number of Instructors and Divemasters is essential for the safe training of recreational divers. The question of how many people are needed and who they should be is often a very difficult issue. Andrew Tonge looks at this tricky area of law and procedure.

PADI Standards (per the PADI Instructor Manual) set ratios of student divers to instructors/certified assistants, required in training recreational divers.

PADI Standards expect every PADI Pro to take account of the local laws, and this is where things get complicated. PADI Standards are not law, and UK law often imposes additional requirements to those in PADI Standards.

For example, PADI Standards allow up to eight students to be in open water with one instructor alone, subject to safety in the prevailing conditions, during the PADI Open Water Diver course.

If the divers in the water are ‘at work’ (see my earlier article) under the Diving at Work Regulations 1997 and Approved Code of Practice for Recreational Diving (“Regulations”), then in open water, the minimum number in a dive team (those taking part in a dive) is not one (per PADI Open Water Diver Standards) but three - two in the water and one on the surface, irrespective of the course or prevailing conditions.

The number required may be more than the minimum, depending on the risk assessment, i.e. subject to safety in the prevailing conditions.

By the Regulations, the two divers in the water must be properly qualified by experience and training. Mere titles of qualification may not necessarily mean that a diver is suitable to take part on that dive.

In interpreting the Regulations, any court may look to the PADI Standards as a guide to good practice and so, where they require a minimum qualification (e.g. OWSI) the necessary qualifications required under the Regulations will most likely be as required by the PADI Standards.

Both divers in the water must also be capable of effecting a rescue, again in terms of experience and ability, and also qualified, such as by being a PADI Rescue Diver or Divemaster or above. They should also possess an HSE approved medical certificate.

If one or more of these divers is undergoing training on that dive, he/she must still meet all of the legal requirements.

One of the divers in the water should be appointed in writing by the Diving Contractor as supervisor of the dive and will be in charge health and safety on the dive itself.

The 'surface cover' need not be a diver but must be familiar with the diving project plan and the emergency procedures.

Under the Regulations, a suitable number of the dive team should be trained in first aid including the provision of oxygen and the recognition of decompression illnesses and, depending on the circumstances and location of the dive, proficient in more advanced techniques. Clearly it is sensible for the surface cover to be such a person for obvious reasons.

If a number of dive teams are in the water at the same time, e.g. where a dive school is doing more than one course, care must be taken to ensure that if the surface cover is engaged in helping one team, that the surface cover requirement for the other teams in the water is not breached. It may be necessary to have a surface cover person for each team in the water.

Under the Regulations, in swimming pools, the minimum dive team size may be two; again, subject to risk assessment that may dictate that more are required. One diver in the water should be the supervisor and the second person should be immediately available, on the surface or in the water, to assist a rescue.

Breaches of the Regulations and other criminal laws can result in prosecution, leading to a fine and even imprisonment, especially where the breaches lead to death or injury.

In addition, all those involved may face a civil law suit brought by any injured diver or the relatives of anyone killed, for negligence or breach of contract. This means that the dive school and those that own and run it, along with all the divers involved, could face having to pay considerable amounts of compensation, leading to financial ruin and bankruptcy.

It is therefore essential to understand the limit of your insurance policy and that of any dive school you work for and to comply with it. To be left without insurance because of breaches of the law, could leave you to face the consequences without lawyers or the means to pay fines and compensation.

This is an area where it is easy to get things wrong. If you are at all in doubt, please consult a lawyer.
 

Andrew Tonge is qualified as a Solicitor and a Barrister. He has been practising law for over 15 years. He is also a PADI Instructor, experienced technical diver and a director at Odyssey Dive Centre Limited, based in Stockport and Wigan. Andrew can be contacted at Nexus Solicitors, Manchester, where he is a partner.

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