Reminder to submit snorkelling incident reports

A reminder for snorkellers and instructors to submit their BSAC Annual Diving Incident Reports by the 17th October 2018

You may remember in March the growing concern about the safety of Snorkel Full Face masks was mentioned.  Tragically there had been snorkelling fatalities in Hawaii some of which involved the use of these masks and the authorities were investigating. 

Such investigations take time and to date there appears to be no conclusions and / or advice available from them. Overall snorkelling has an excellent safety record lets help it to stay that way. I sincerely hope your snorkelling this summer has been incident free.  

If you do have anything to report and this should include a near miss or actions taken to prevent a problem from arising now is the time to do it. The reporting year for collection of data for the Annual Diving Incident report runs from 1 October through to the 30 September the following year. 

Any reports for inclusion in the report should be submitted by Wednesday 17 October to allow compilation of the report.  Remember it is the Diving Incident Report-not just Scuba Diving, so should you have a snorkelling related incident to report from the relevant period please do submit a report.  The purpose of the report is to help us all learn and to help maintain our sports good safety record.

- Marg Baldwin, Snorkel Instructor Trainer

Snorkel Safety Talk - Time to report 2018 

A frequently asked question about submitting a report for inclusion is “how do I know it should be classed as an ‘incident’?”

Snorkelling is and is justifiably seen as a low-risk activity – let’s keep it that way by being prepared to share with one another any accident or incident, so we can identify and put to good effect any developments and improvements to be made in the way we enjoy and teach our sport.

What is classed as a Snorkelling 'accident'?

The term ‘Accident’ is commonly used interchangeably with ‘Incident’ but does have certain connotations, so much so that the police now refer to road traffic collisions (since ‘accident’ implies it was no one’s fault). 

In reality, however, an accident is the result of unforeseeable circumstances.  Your training, equipment and ‘Safe Snorkelling’ are all geared to prevent the foreseeable circumstances but sometimes, things ‘just happen’.  

What is classed as a Snorkelling 'incident'?

Incident is a much broader term and in terms of the Annual Report is used to describe any abnormal occurrence or deviation from normal practice.

By using the broader terminology, it is possible to incorporate all types of incident regardless of cause. The report also does not attempt to determine whether any particular incident was unforeseeable, avoidable or the result of a deliberate act and does not seek to apportion blame.

The purpose is to report facts in an anonymous and open way so to allow all divers and Snorkellers to read the individual reports and learn from them. 

What is classed as a Snorkelling 'near miss'?

Perhaps where the greatest value can be found is when an out of the ordinary occurrence happens but is successfully resolved and so does not lead to a physical ‘incident’.

The mechanism by which the incident was recognised, assessed and action taken to resolve it can all be highly valuable information that may very well be of value to others, not least in informing.