Oz Dive Co fined $200K

SMH-

A Victorian diving company has been fined $200,000 for failing to ensure the safety of an inexperienced scuba diver who drowned during a trip off the Mornington Peninsula.

Robert Grant, 32, of Clayton in Melbourne's south-east, drowned after experiencing problems on a diving trip out of Portsea off Victoria's Mornington Peninsula on January 17, 2004.

Melbourne Diving Services - which is now in receivership - was found guilty by a jury last month of failing to ensure people other than its employees were cared for under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Victorian County Court, Judge Lance Pilgrim hit out at the company's safety procedures as he imposed a $200,000 penalty, believed to be an unprecedented fine for this type of offence.

He said that while the company was now in receivership and any fine would not be paid, it was important to send a message to the industry about its responsibly to customers.

Judge Pilgrim described the company's breach of duties as "profound" and an "absolute disgrace".

The company, which operated a shopfront in Portsea, was not represented at the trial or during sentencing.

Judge Pilgrim said the tragedy could easily have been avoided if the company and its employees followed good procedures.

He said there were many indicators that Mr Grant was an inexperienced diver and lacked the skills to dive in Victorian waters.

The court heard Mr Grant only had a basic diving certificate from a holiday in Queensland 18 months before the fatal dive. He had not dived between those two occasions.

Victorian diving conditions are considered more difficult due to the colder water and different equipment, course director for the National Association of Underwater Instructors Frank Ziegler previously told the court.

Mr Ziegler said the company's employees failed to properly assess Mr Grant's qualifications when he hired the equipment, was accepted for the boat dive and again on board the vessel before the dive.

He also said Mr Grant's buoyancy vest was up to four kilograms over-weighted - which would have made it difficult for him to remain on the water's surface.

Mr Grant's family attended the court and outside court his father Warren Grant condemned the diving company for failing to attend the sentencing.

"In my view they're gutless individuals," Mr Grant said.

He said he hoped a coronial inquest into his son's death would result in tougher legislation to ensure lives would be saved in the future.

WorkSafe general manager Eric Windholz said the fine was unprecedented for this type of breach.

"We're very pleased with the fine because it sends a clear, unambiguous message to the diving industry of what's expected of them," Mr Windholz said.

ive heard of 2 diving fatalities here in the PI both i think happened at Cathedral Rock in Anilao, Batangas. all the instructors, DMs and resort staff we've talked to either dont know who's responsible or just unwilling to disclose information especially the names..

This is one reason im a bit apprehensive about doing my DM. The guy was certified. He should be the one that is responsible for his own actions. Yeah it does suck that he died but shouldnt he be the one saying he wasnt ok to do the dive? Shouldnt he of been the one to check his weights? Passing on from all that could the said dive shop now couter sue the cert agency and instucting shop for failing to teach the guy to the standard?
Condolences to the family and loved ones for their loss but really the only one responsible for the actions is yourself.

Matt

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Originally Posted by Zero

This is one reason im a bit apprehensive about doing my DM.

Matt

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same same :o

This case has been dissected to death on Aussie dive forums. AFAIK, the company concerned had a whole set of perfectly wonderful standards and procedures in place, which if followed would have probably prevented this tragedy, they ignored almost every single one of them!:mad: It was for this reason that the fine was levied. The fine, by the way, was commensurate with other workplace death judgements.
As a DM, one of my biggest dilemmas is at what point should i step in and tell somebody that they cannot dive ?
Many people seem to resent the percieved 'interference' of DMs in their diving and "I've dived thousands of times more than you, you newby whippersnapper and if i decide to jump off the boat with my air off, fins in my hand and mask on top of my head, then that's exactly what i am going to do. And you can't stop me !!" is an (only slightly exaggerated ) example of the sorts of things that you get told.
Just occasionally, the dive industry needs to remember that the customer is not always right.


just my 2 seashells worth

If only those indemnity waiver forms actually worked. If you could sign your rights away imagine the places you could go.

Matt

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Originally Posted by Zero

The guy was certified. He should be the one that is responsible for his own actions. Yeah it does suck that he died but shouldnt he be the one saying he wasnt ok to do the dive? Shouldnt he of been the one to check his weights? Passing on from all that could the said dive shop now couter sue the cert agency and instucting shop for failing to teach the guy to the standard?
Condolences to the family and loved ones for their loss but really the only one responsible for the actions is yourself.

Matt

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I quite agree. Unfortunately, with having so little experience it is possible the deceased did know enough to say to "look after me"?

Do your DM if that is the way you want your diving to go, just remember to pay a lot of attention to diving experience and "last dived" ....... certainly more than C cards (IMO)!

I don't know if it is part of DM/instructor training but it shouldn't be any kind of an issue for a novice to admit being so.

I also think that the beginning words of the OW course (and other agency equivalents) is that diving can be dangerous and you may die if ...............

Unfortunately personal responsibility is not longer the rule but rather the exception. That being said, that, may be the first thing lost to todays global society, the next is , without a doubt, succumbing to the greed of the individual/business. Striking a "happy medium" is truly the tightrope we walk. Unfortunately the DM/Instructor is often the middle man/woman. Caught between the demands of the diver and the boat/shop owner. What diver here, is willing to accede their dive to the proclamation of the DM? Too many of us, especially me, would tell the DM to "take an emtpy tank and make the final dive."

I am in agreement that too many individuals are diving that have no business doing so. We have done much to make this sport VERY safe. We may have done too much. So much so, that the new diver has no fear. Who was it that said "no fear, is the scariest thing"?

My 2kg. worth.......

or stop giving C cards to anyone and everyone that finishes the class. Make the standards a LOT harder. You can get certified and basically only know how to dog paddle if that. It's a complete joke because you can be a non-swimmer and still get certified. I've been in the ocean my entire life and now it's my career, lifeguarding, and to tell you the truth I didn't know how comfortable I was with my instructors knowledge of the ocean.

Your exchanges make me realize how peculiarly lucky my group was and is -- in the sense that, for our "teachers," doing business was never the overriding condition.
My first instructor, for example, was a proud man. There were actually two students in our class who didn't get their C cards on the same day as the rest of us. He had to be satisfied first that they wouldn't be a danger to themselves.
And I found my second instructor because I just happened to be buddied up with this girl who, it seemed to me, barely moved in the water and always had the most air left in her tank after a dive. She was my "virtual calling card" to him.
Our current DM, over the years, has become a dear friend too. No one in the group is shy about admitting discomfort or anxiety. And when we bring in someone new, our DM gently quizzes him on his last dive. We can depend on him to do that.
I do think we somehow carry that relationship/comfort level with him to other DMs during out-of-town dives. We're convinced that there are no stupid questions.

At least here in Canada, if you accept money to act as the "Divemaster" or leader of the activity, that puts responsibility on you to exercise due diligence in providing a safe experience for the customer according to your training and the standards in the industry, and if there is an emergency to act to the best of your ability according to your training and the standards. Anything else and you are liable. But a lot of DM's and instructors get away with terrible practices because thankfully, nothing ever went wrong yet. So they churn out equally unskilled and unsafe certified divers. I know the few of us who really try to keep our skills and training up, stay in shape (... try :rolleyes: ), and who tell students, "why don't you come back for a couple extra sessions first?" get a lot of flack from the obese, cigarette smoking DM's and instructors.

I can def. see the point though, that was made: imagine gearing up on a boat for a dive you paid for and the DM coming over and telling you she/he doesn't think you are ready for this dive and they are not going to allow you in the water? Wow, bravo for them, but who here would just quietly accept that? So what do we do? I think stricter certification requirements is a good idea, but the unscrupulous instructors already ignore the standards we have. It's an issue too large to be policed by the training agencies ... they don't have the man power ... And putting the instructors on the honour system doesn't seem to be working ...

Pinay Diver well that's good to hear because any class I've taken it seems like the main goal of the instructor is to make money. In my OW course one guy who was terrible passed, the instructor told him to always dive with a DM untill he get some dives under his belt. How safe can that be?

I’m sure there’s no shortage of instructors churning out unprepared divers in these parts either. (The aspirant just has to do his homework. It can be as simple as asking an instructor’s former students and benefiting from their hindsight.) Failing or past that, cut the umbilical cord and find a group to grow with.

A trio of divers who joined us on a dive a month or two after their certification gushed over how our DM was so “thorough” in his briefing (drawing the terrain on a slate, explaining the dive plan, asking us what we wanted to see and what we could expect to see, refreshing us on hand signals and buddy separation, etc.) and -- all that being accustomed procedure -- only got me wondering how it possibly was with their own instructor.

Apparently, their instructor kept bringing them to the same sites (soon dampening their excitement) and, being the jealous type (guarding his business?), didn’t actively link them up with other groups. At that point, our DM was the only other dive professional that they had gotten into the water with, but that one time made them see the difference. They're with us now :)