Relatively speaking scuba diving is quite a safe undertaking providing you follow a common set of safety rules or standards. It is when these rules are violated that folks put themselves, and others, in danger.
We can begin by examining what the most common mistakes are that people make that puts them in a situation of danger, in doing so we can help to put things into perspective regarding the dangers that one faces when scuba diving and thus change people’s perception.
Failure To Obtain Standard Certification.
In most regulated places you will not be able to rent scuba equipment unless you provide some evidence that you have aquired a level of diver certification. This can be beginner, intermediate or, of course, advanced status. Sadly a dangerous way round this is to get someone renting gear who is certified and then passing it over to someone who isn’t.
This kind of activity has seen an increase due to internet access to auction websites. This is a sad reflection of reality because with scuba diving we need a strong, regulatory framework in order to keep the activity safe from accidents and bad publicity that may arise due to this irresponsible behaviour.
Attempting To Dive With Little Skill Sets.
There are some dives of a specialist nature that require experience in these areas. Ice diving, wreck penetration, shark diving and canern diving fit into this category.
By attempting these sorts of dives without qualified training you are putting your life at risk. It will not cost a lot of money or time to train in some skills that could save your life.
Diving Under The Influence Of Alcohol.
It is fair to say that most divers, no matter what status they are, dive in a responsible and safe manner. However there are some complete idiots who ignore some basic safety rules and attempt to dive whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs or even both.
This type of practice has lead to fatalities in the past and no one should enter the water whilst under the influence of alcohol.
Inappropriate Levels Of Conditioning And Diving.
If you are mobidly obese and you smoke then you fall into a high risk category as far as undertaking scuba diving is concerned. You have an increased chance of suffering a cardiac arrest whilst diving.
All the areas we have discussed increase the danger however they can be addressed. It’s all down to the individual and how responsible they are in letting common sense prevail.