Diving hazards

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Diving hazards are the agents or situations that pose a threat to the underwater diver or their equipment. Divers operate in an environment for which the human body is not well suited. They face special physical and health risks when they go underwater or use high pressure breathing gas. The consequences of diving incidents range from merely annoying to rapidly fatal, and the result often depends on the equipment, skill, response and fitness of the diver and diving team. The classes of hazards include the aquatic environment, the use of breathing equipment in an underwater environment, exposure to a pressurised environment and pressure changes, particularly pressure changes during descent and ascent, and breathing gases at high ambient pressure. Diving equipment other than breathing apparatus is usually reliable, but has been known to fail, and loss of buoyancy control or thermal protection can be a major burden which may lead to more serious problems. There are also hazards of the specific diving environment, and hazards related to access to and egress from the water, which vary from place to place, and may also vary with time. Hazards inherent in the diver include pre-existing physiological and psychological conditions and the personal behaviour and competence of the individual. For those pursuing other activities while diving, there are additional hazards of task loading, of the dive task and of special equipment associated with the task. [1] [2]

Contents

The presence of a combination of several hazards simultaneously is common in diving, and the effect is generally increased risk to the diver, particularly where the occurrence of an incident due to one hazard triggers other hazards with a resulting cascade of incidents. Many diving fatalities are the result of a cascade of incidents overwhelming the diver, who should be able to manage any single reasonably foreseeable incident. [3]

Although there are many dangers involved in diving, divers can decrease the risks through effective procedures and appropriate equipment. The requisite skills are acquired by training and education, and honed by practice. Entry level recreational diving certification programmes highlight diving physiology, safe diving practices, and diving hazards, but do not provide the diver with sufficient practice to become truly adept. Professional diver training provides more practice, but continued experience and practice of essential skills is necessary to develop reliable response to contingencies.

Changes in pressure

Divers must avoid injuries caused by changes in pressure. The weight of the water column above the diver causes an increase in pressure in proportion to depth, in the same way that the weight of the column of atmospheric air above the surface causes a pressure of 101.3 kPa (14.7 pounds-force per square inch) at sea level. This variation of pressure with depth will cause compressible materials and gas filled spaces to tend to change volume, which can cause the surrounding material or tissues to be stressed, with the risk of injury if the stress gets too high. Pressure injuries are called barotrauma [4] and can be quite painful or debilitating, even potentially fatal – in severe cases causing a ruptured lung, eardrum or damage to the sinuses. To avoid barotrauma, the diver equalises the pressure in all air spaces with the surrounding water pressure when changing depth. The middle ear and sinus are equalised using one or more of several techniques, which is referred to as clearing the ears. [5]

The scuba mask (half-mask) is equalised during descent by periodically exhaling through the nose. During ascent it will automatically equalise by leaking excess air round the edges. A helmet or full face mask will automatically equalise as any pressure differential will either vent through the exhaust valve or open the demand valve and release breathing gas for into the low-pressure space. An insufficient gas supply for the descent rate can lead to helmet squeeze. This was more of a problem with manual air pumps, and often associated with a fall off the edge of a relatively high place by a diver in standard diving equipment with a lot of slack in the lifeline. Another barotrauma hazard is helmet squeeze caused by a shallow rupture of the surface-supplied breathing gas hose and simultaneous failure of the non-return valve at the helmet, which can cause a large pressure difference between the helmet interior and the rupture.

If a drysuit is worn, it must be equalised by inflation and deflation, much like a buoyancy compensator. Most dry suits are fitted with an auto-dump valve, which, if set correctly, and kept at the high point of the diver by good trim skills, will automatically release gas as it expands and retain a virtually constant volume during ascent. During descent the dry suit must be inflated manually unless sealed to the helmet.

Effects of breathing high-pressure gas

Breathing high-pressure gas constitutes a hazard with associated risks of decompression sickness, nitrogen narcosis, oxygen toxicity and high-pressure nervous syndrome.

Decompression sickness

Exterior of a deck decompression chamber Deck decompression chamber PA197922.jpg
Exterior of a deck decompression chamber

The prolonged exposure to breathing gases at high partial pressure will result in increased amounts of non-metabolic gases, usually nitrogen and/or helium, (referred to in this context as inert gases) dissolving in the bloodstream as it passes through the alveolar capillaries, and thence carried to the other tissues of the body, where they will accumulate until saturated. This saturation process has very little immediate effect on the diver. However, when the pressure is reduced during ascent, the amount of dissolved inert gas that can be held in stable solution in the tissues is reduced. This effect is described by Henry's Law. [6]

As a consequence of the reducing partial pressure of inert gases in the lungs during ascent, the dissolved gas will be diffused back from the bloodstream to the gas in the lungs and exhaled. The reduced gas concentration in the blood has a similar effect when it passes through tissues carrying a higher concentration, and that gas will diffuse back into the bloodstream, reducing the loading of the tissues. [6] As long as this process is gradual, the tissue gas loading in the diver will reduce by diffusion and perfusion until it eventually re-stabilises at the current saturation pressure. The problem arises when the pressure is reduced more quickly than the gas can be removed by this mechanism, and the level of supersaturation rises sufficiently to become unstable. At this point, bubbles may form and grow in the tissues, and may cause damage either by distending the tissue locally, or blocking small blood vessels, shutting off blood supply to the downstream side, and resulting in hypoxia of those tissues. [6]

Divers inside a recompression chamber Decompression chamber.jpg
Divers inside a recompression chamber

This effect is called decompression sickness [4] or 'the bends', and must be avoided by reducing the pressure on the body slowly while ascending and allowing the inert gases dissolved in the tissues to be eliminated while still in solution. This process is known as "off-gassing", and is done by restricting the ascent (decompression) rate to one where the level of supersaturation is not sufficient for bubbles to form or grow. This level is only known statistically, and may vary for reasons which are not well understood. The level of supersaturation limited by controlling the speed of ascent and making periodic stops to allow gases to be eliminated by respiration. The procedure of making stops is called staged decompression, and the stops are called decompression stops. Decompression stops that are not computed as strictly necessary are called safety stops, and reduce the risk of bubble formation further at the cost of a longer ascent time, greater gas consumption and in many cases greater exposure to other hazards. Dive computers or decompression tables are used to determine a relatively safe ascent profile, but are not completely reliable. There remains a statistical possibility of decompression bubbles forming even when the guidance from tables or computer has been followed exactly. [6]

Nitrogen narcosis

Nitrogen narcosis or inert gas narcosis is a reversible alteration in consciousness producing a state similar to alcohol intoxication in divers who breathe high-pressure gas containing nitrogen or other potentially narcotic gas at raised partial pressures. [4] The mechanism is similar to that of nitrous oxide, or "laughing gas," administered as anaesthesia. Being "narced" can impair judgement and make diving considerably more dangerous. Narcosis starts to affect some divers at about 66 feet (20 m) on air. At this depth, narcosis often manifests itself as a slight giddiness. The effects increase with an increase in depth. Almost all divers will notice the effects by 132 feet (40 m). At this depth divers may feel euphoria, anxiety, loss of coordination and/or lack of concentration. At extreme depths, a hallucinogenic reaction, tunnel vision or unconsciousness can occur. Jacques Cousteau famously described it as the "rapture of the deep". [7] Nitrogen narcosis occurs quickly and the symptoms typically disappear equally quickly during the ascent, so that divers often fail to realise they were ever affected. It affects individual divers at varying depths and conditions, and can even vary from dive to dive under identical conditions. Diving with trimix or heliox reduces the effects, which are proportional to the partial pressure of nitrogen, and probably oxygen, in the breathing gas.

Oxygen toxicity

Oxygen toxicity occurs when the tissues are exposed to an excessive combination of partial pressure (PPO2) and duration. [4] In acute cases it affects the central nervous system and causes a seizure, which can result in the diver losing consciousness, spitting out their regulator and drowning. While the exact limit is not reliably predictable, and is affected by carbon dioxide levels, it is generally recognised that central nervous system oxygen toxicity is preventable if one does not exceed an oxygen partial pressure of 1.4 bar. [8] For deep dives – generally past 180 feet (55 m), divers use "hypoxic blends" containing a lower percentage of oxygen than atmospheric air. A less immediately threatening form known as pulmonary oxygen toxicity occurs after exposures to lower oxygen partial pressures for much longer periods than generally encountered in scuba diving, but is a recognised problem in saturation diving.

High-pressure nervous syndrome

High-pressure nervous syndrome (HPNS – also known as high-pressure neurological syndrome) is a neurological and physiological diving disorder that results when a diver descends below about 500 feet (150 m) using a breathing gas containing helium. The effects experienced, and the severity of those effects, depend on the rate of descent, the depth and percentage of helium. [4]

"Helium tremors" were first widely described in 1965 by Royal Navy physiologist Peter B. Bennett, who also founded the Divers Alert Network. [4] [9] Russian scientist G. L. Zal'tsman also reported on helium tremors in his experiments from 1961. However, these reports were not available in the West until 1967. [10]

The term high-pressure nervous syndrome was first used by Brauer in 1968 to describe the combined symptoms of tremor, electroencephalography (EEG) changes, and somnolence that appeared during a 1,189-foot (362 m) chamber dive in Marseille. [11]

Failure of diving equipment

The underwater environment presents a constant hazard of asphyxiation due to drowning. Breathing apparatus used for diving is life-support equipment, and failure can have fatal consequences – reliability of the equipment and the ability of the diver to deal with a single point of failure are essential for diver safety. Failure of other items of diving equipment is generally not as immediately threatening, as provided the diver is conscious and breathing, there may be time to deal with the situation, however an uncontrollable gain or loss of buoyancy can put the diver at severe risk of decompression sickness, or of sinking to a depth where nitrogen narcosis or oxygen toxicity may render the diver incapable of managing the situation, which may lead to drowning while breathing gas remains available. [12]

Failure of breathing apparatus

Most regulator malfunctions involve improper supply of breathing gas or water leaking into the gas supply. There are two main gas supply failure modes, where the regulator shuts off delivery, which is extremely rare, and free-flow, where the delivery will not stop and can quickly exhaust a scuba supply. [13]

The inlet to the cylinder valve may be protected by a sintered filter, and the inlet to the first stage is usually protected by a filter, both to prevent corrosion products or other contaminants in the cylinder from getting into the fine toleranced gaps in the moving parts of the first and second stage and jamming them, either open or closed. If enough dirt gets into these filters they themselves can be blocked sufficiently to reduce performance, but are unlikely to result in a total or sudden catastrophic failure. Sintered bronze filters can also gradually clog with corrosion products if they get wet. Inlet filter blockage will become more noticeable as the cylinder pressure drops. [14]

Either of the stages may get stuck in the open position, causing a continuous flow of gas from the regulator known as a free-flow. This can be triggered by a range of causes, some of which can be easily remedied, others not. Possible causes include incorrect interstage pressure setting, incorrect second stage valve spring tension, damaged or sticking valve poppet, damaged valve seat, valve freezing, wrong sensitivity setting at the surface and in Poseidon servo-assisted second stages, low interstage pressure. [14] The moving parts in first and second stages have fine tolerances in places, and some designs are more susceptible to contaminants causing friction between the moving parts. this may increase cracking pressure, reduce flow rate, increase work of breathing or induce free-flow, depending on what part is affected.

In cold conditions the cooling effect of gas expanding through a valve orifice may cool either first or second stage sufficiently to cause ice to form. External icing may lock up the spring and exposed moving parts of first or second stage, and freezing of moisture in the air may cause icing on internal surfaces. Either may cause the moving parts of the affected stage to jam open or closed. If the valve freezes closed, it will usually defrost quite rapidly and start working again, and may freeze open soon after. Freezing open is more of a problem, as the valve will then free-flow and cool further in a positive feedback loop, which can normally only be stopped by closing the cylinder valve and waiting for the ice to thaw. If not stopped, the cylinder will rapidly be emptied. [15]

A slow leak of the first stage valve known as intermediate pressure creep can cause the interstage pressure to rise until either the next breath is drawn, or the pressure exerts more force on the second stage valve than can be resisted by the spring, and the valve opens briefly, often with a popping sound, to relieve the pressure. the frequency of the popping pressure relief depends on the flow in the second stage, the back pressure, the second stage spring tension and the magnitude of the leak. It may range from occasional loud pops to a constant hiss. Underwater the second stage may be damped by the water and the loud pops may become an intermittent or constant stream of bubbles. This is not usually a catastrophic failure mode, but should be fixed as it will get worse, and it wastes gas. [14]

Gas leaks can be caused by burst or leaky hoses, defective o-rings, blown o-rings, particularly in yoke connectors, loose connections, and several of the previously listed malfunctions. Low pressure inflation hoses may fail to connect properly, or the non-return valve may leak. A burst low pressure hose will usually lose gas faster than a burst high pressure hose, as HP hoses usually have a flow restriction orifice in the fitting that screws into the port, [16] : 185  as the submersible pressure gauge does not need high flow, and a slower pressure increase in the gauge hose is less likely to overload the gauge, while the hose to a second stage must provide high peak flow rate to minimize work of breathing. [14] A relatively common o-ring failure occurs when the yoke clamp seal extrudes due to insufficient clamp force or elastic deformation of the clamp by impact with the environment.

Wet breathing is caused by water getting into the regulator and compromising breathing comfort and safety. Water can leak into the second stage body through damaged soft parts like torn mouthpieces, damaged exhaust valves and perforated diaphragms, through cracked housings, or through poorly sealing or fouled exhaust valves. [14]

High work of breathing can be caused by high inhalation resistance, high exhalation resistance or both. High inhalation resistance can be caused by high cracking pressure, low interstage pressure, friction in second stage valve moving parts, excessive spring loading, or sub-optimum valve design. It can usually can be improved by servicing and tuning, but some regulators cannot deliver high flow at great depths without high work of breathing. High exhalation resistance is usually due to a problem with the exhaust valves, which can stick, stiffen due to deterioration of the materials, or may have an insufficient flow passage area for the service. [14] Work of breathing increases with gas density, and therefore with depth. Total work of breathing for the diver is a combination of physiological work of breathing and mechanical work of breathing. It is possible for this combination to exceed the capacity of the diver, who can then suffocate due to carbon dioxide toxicity.

Juddering, shuddering and moaning are caused by an irregular and unstable flow from the second stage, which may be caused by a slight positive feedback between flow rate in the second stage body and diaphragm deflection opening the valve, which is not sufficient to cause free-flow, but enough to cause the system to hunt. It is more common on high-performance regulators which are tuned for maximum flow and minimum work of breathing, particularly out of the water, and often reduces or resolves when the regulator is immersed and the ambient water damps the movement of the diaphragm and other moving parts. Desensitising the second stage by closing venturi assists or increasing the valve spring pressure often stops this problem. Juddering may also be caused by excessive but irregular friction of valve moving parts. [14]

Physical damage to the housing or components such as cracked housings, torn or dislodged mouthpieces, damaged exhaust fairings, can cause gas flow problems or leaks, or can make the regulator uncomfortable to use or difficult to breathe from.

Full-face masks and helmets

Flooding of a full-face mask or diving helmet is also a failure of the breathing apparatus that must be corrected immediately, as this interrupts the path of breathing gas to the diver. Depending on the cause of the flood, this may be trivial or difficult to correct.

Failure of depth control equipment

Rapid and uncontrolled depth changes can seriously endanger the diver. An uncontrolled ascent can lead to decompression illness, and uncontrolled descent can take the diver to a depth where the equipment and breathing gas are not appropriate, and can cause debilitating narcosis, acute oxygen toxicity, barotraumas of descent, rapid exhaustion of breathing gas supplies, excessive work of breathing, and inability to surface. These effects can be caused by failures of weighting and buoyancy control equipment. Surface-supplied divers may avoid these problems in many cases by using a bell or stage for vertical travel through the water, but scuba divers need to be appropriately buoyant at all times when in the water.

Diving weighting systems can cause problems if the diver carries too much or too little weight, if the weights are dropped at the wrong time, or cannot be dropped when it is necessary. Over and underweighting are common operator errors, often associated with inexperience, poor training, and lack of understanding of the necessary procedures for correct selection of weights. Weighting systems are usually very reliable. Occasionally weights will fall off through no fault of the diver, if a buckle or clip is released through contact with the surroundings.

Buoyancy control is the use of adjustable buoyancy equipment to balance equipment which changes buoyancy but is not controlled by the diver, such as changes due to depth and gas consumption. Ballast weight is normally constant during the dive, but buoyancy is adjustable by controlling the volume of gas-filled spaces. It is simple to inflate a gas filled space at ambient pressure to achieve neutral buoyancy, but any change of depth will affect the volume and therefore the buoyancy of the system. The diver must make compensatory adjustments to retain neutral buoyancy whenever the depth varies. Any unintentional change in the gas volume can rapidly escalate a buoyancy imbalance, and the system is inherently unstable. Gas leaks into or out of the buoyancy compensator bladder or dry suit must be corrected before they become uncontrollable.

When deploying a DSMB or a lift bag, entanglement and reel jams can prevent free deployment of line. It must be possible to abandon the buoyant equipment to avoid being pulled up too fast. Clipping the reel to the diver increases this risk.

Failure of other equipment

Failures of other diving equipment can endanger the diver, but are generally less immediate in their effect, allowing the diver a reasonable amount of time to compensate.

The diving environment

Loss of body heat

To the water

Water conducts heat from the diver 25 times [19] more effectively than air, which can lead to hypothermia even in mild water temperatures. [4] Symptoms of hypothermia include impaired judgment and dexterity, [20] which can quickly become deadly in an aquatic environment. In all but the warmest waters, divers need the thermal insulation provided by wetsuits or drysuits. [21] For extreme exposure, active heating can be provided by chemical heat packs or battery powered heated underwear, or by hot-water suits. [22]

Spring suit (short legs and sleeves) and steamer (full legs and sleeves) Wetsuit0806 crop.jpg
Spring suit (short legs and sleeves) and steamer (full legs and sleeves)

In the case of a wetsuit, the suit is designed to minimise heat loss. Wetsuits are usually made of foamed neoprene that has small closed bubbles, generally containing nitrogen, trapped in it during the manufacturing process. The poor thermal conductivity of this expanded cell neoprene means that wetsuits reduce loss of body heat by conduction to the surrounding water. The neoprene, and to a larger extent the nitrogen gas in the bubbles, function as an insulator. The effectiveness of the insulation is reduced when the suit is compressed due to depth, as the nitrogen filled bubbles are then smaller and the compressed gas in them conducts heat better. The second way in which wetsuits can reduce heat loss is to trap the water which leaks into the suit. Body heat is then lost to heat the trapped water, and provided the suit is reasonably well-sealed at all openings (neck, wrists, ankles, zippers and overlaps with other suit components), this water mostly remains inside the suit and is not replaced by more cold water, which would take up more body heat, and this helps reduce the rate of heat loss. This principle is specifically applied in the "Semi-Dry" wetsuit. The insulation value of the water trapped in the suit is negligible. [23] Use of a wetsuit can add the hazard of loss of buoyancy due to suit compression with depth.

Dry suit with front entry zipper Dry suit front-entry.jpg
Dry suit with front entry zipper

A dry suit functions by keeping the diver and their insulating garments dry. The suit is waterproof and sealed so that water cannot penetrate the suit. Special purpose undergarments are usually worn under a dry suit to hold a layer of gas between the diver and the suit for thermal insulation. Some divers carry an extra gas bottle dedicated to filling the dry suit, which may contain argon gas, because it is a better insulator than air. [24] Dry suits should not be inflated with gases containing helium as it is a good thermal conductor. [22]

Dry suits fall into two main categories: Membrane or Shell dry suits are usually a trilaminate or coated textile construction. The material is thin and not a very good insulator, so the insulation is provided by the air trapped in the undersuit. [25] Neoprene drysuits have a similar construction to wetsuits; these are often considerably thicker (7–8 mm) and have sufficient inherent insulation to allow a lighter-weight undersuit (or none at all); however on deeper dives the neoprene can compress to as little as 2 mm, losing much of its insulation. Compressed or crushed neoprene may also be used (where the neoprene is pre-compressed to 2–3 mm) which reduces the variation of insulating properties with depth. These dry suits function more like a membrane suit with greater stretch. Use of a dry suit is associated with the hazards of suit leaks, causing loss of insulation, suit floods, with loss of buoyancy, and suit blow-ups which can cause uncontrolled ascents. [25]

Hot-water suits are used in cold water commercial surface-supplied diving. [26] These suits are normally made of foamed neoprene and are similar to wetsuits in construction and appearance, but they do not fit as closely by design. The wrists and ankles of the suit are loose-fitting, allowing water to flush out of the suit as it is replenished with more hot water from the surface. A hose in the umbilical line, which links the diver to the surface support, carries the hot water from a heater on the surface down to the suit. The diver controls the flow rate of the water from a valve at the hip, allowing control of the warmth of the suit in response to changes in environmental conditions and workload. Tubes inside the suit distribute the water to the limbs, chest, and back. Boots, gloves, and hood are also supplied with hot water from the ends of the distribution hoses. [27]

Hot-water suits are commonly used for deep dives in cold water when breathing mixes containing helium are used. Helium conducts heat much more efficiently than air, but has a lower heat capacity. The expansion of gas when pressure is reduced in the diving regulator causes intense cooling, and the chilled gas is heated to body temperature and humidified in the alveoli, which causes rapid heat loss from the body by conduction and evaporation. The amount of heat loss is proportional to the mass of gas breathed, which is proportional to ambient pressure at depth, so the diver will lose large amounts of body heat through the lungs when breathing. [22] This compounds the risk of hypothermia already present in the cold waters at these depths. Under these conditions the hot water supply to the suit is a matter of survival, not comfort. Just as an emergency backup source of breathing gas is required, a backup water heater is also an essential precaution whenever dive conditions warrant a hot water suit. If the heater fails and a backup unit cannot be immediately brought online, a diver in the coldest conditions can succumb to hypothermia within minutes if they cannot get back into a dry bell. Depending on decompression obligations, bringing the diver directly to the surface could prove equally deadly. [27]

Heated water in the suit forms an active insulation barrier to heat loss, but the temperature must be regulated within fairly close limits. If the temperature falls below about 32 °C (90 °F), hypothermia can result, and temperatures above 45 °C (113 °F) can cause burn injury to the diver. The diver may not notice a gradual change in inlet temperature, and in the early stages of hypo- or hyperthermia, may not notice the deteriorating condition. [27] The suit is loose fitting to allow unimpeded water flow. This causes a large volume of water (13 to 22 litres) to be held in the suit, which can impede swimming due to the added inertia. When controlled correctly, the hot water suit is safe, comfortable and effective, and allows the diver adequate control of thermal protection. [27]

To the breathing gas

The expansion of compressed breathing gas in the diving regulator causes intense cooling, and the chilled gas is heated to body temperature and humidified in the alveoli, which causes rapid heat loss from the body by conduction and evaporation. The amount of heat loss is proportional to the mass of gas breathed, which is proportional to ambient pressure at depth. Helium has a higher heat conductivity than nitrogen and oxygen, but has a lower specific heat, so heat loss to helium based breathing gases is less than to air or nitrox. [22]

This heat loss to breathing gas compounds the risk of hypothermia already present in the cold temperatures usually found at greater depths.

To the habitat atmosphere

Heat loss to the habitat atmosphere is significant in saturation diving. Heat is lost to the ambient gas in a closed diving bell, saturation accommodation and decompression chambers, and underwater habitats, particularly when there is a helium component to the gas, due to the high thermal conductivity of helium.

Injuries due to contact with the solid surroundings

Some parts of the underwater environment are sharp or abrasive, and can damage unprotected skin. Diving suits also help prevent the diver's skin being damaged by rough or sharp underwater objects, marine animals, hard corals, or metal debris commonly found on shipwrecks. Ordinary protective clothing such as overalls and gloves, or special purpose clothing such as dive skins and rash vests can effectively protect against some of these hazards. A combination of overalls worn over a diving suit is worn by some professional divers. Helmets similar to climbing helmets are effective protection against banging one's head on a rough overhead surface, particularly if a neoprene hood is not worn. A diving helmet is very effective for impact protection.

Dangerous marine animals

Some marine animals can be hazardous to divers. In most cases this is a defensive reaction to contact with, or molestation by the diver.

Overhead environments

Scuba divers may get lost in wrecks and caves, under ice or inside complex structures where there is no direct route to the surface, and be unable to identify the way out, and may run out of breathing gas and drown. Getting lost is often a result of not using a distance line, or losing it in darkness or bad visibility, but sometimes due to the line breaking. Inappropriate response due to claustrophobia and panic is also possible. Occasionally injury or entrapment by collapsing structure or rock-falls can occur. [33]

Entanglement

Another form of entrapment is when the diver or diving equipment is physically restrained by the environment. Some entrapment can be released by cutting free, such as entanglement in ropes, lines and nets. The risk of entrapment is often greater with smaller diameter line, and larger mesh nets. Fortunately these are also less work to cut free if a suitable implement is available. Entanglement is a far greater risk to divers with a limited breathing gas supply, and without communications to a stand-by diver. There is also a risk of losing the cutting tool during the attempt to cut free. In areas of known high entanglement risk such as wrecks in fishing grounds, which often accumulate nets and fishing lines, divers may carry redundant cutting tools, often of different types, as a tool well suited to cutting thick rope may not be optimal for cutting thin nets.

Localised pressure differentials

Commonly referred to by professional divers as delta-p (δp or ΔP), these hazards are due to a pressure difference causing a flow, which if restricted, will result in a large force on the obstruction to the flow. The most dangerous pressure differentials are those causing outflow from the region occupied by a diver and any attached equipment, as the resultant forces will tend to force the diver into the outflow stream, which may carry the diver or equipment such as the umbilical into a confined space such as intake ducting, drain openings, sluice gates or penstocks, and which may be occupied by moving machinery such as impellers or turbines. [34] When possible, a lockout-tagout system is used to disable the hazard during diving operations, or the divers umbilical is restrained to prevent the diver from getting into the danger zone. This method is used when it is not practicable to shut down equipment, like the bow thrusters on a dynamically positioned diving support vessel, which must be operating during the dive to keep the diver in the right place. Scuba divers are particularly vulnerable to delta-p hazards, and should generally not dive in areas where a delta-p hazard is suspected to exist. [35] [36]

Water movement

Loss of visibility

Loss of visibility in itself is not harmful to the diver, but can increase the risk of an adverse incident due to other hazards if the diver cannot avoid or manage them effectively. The most obvious of these is the potential to get lost in an environment where the diver cannot simply ascend to the surface, such as the inside of a wreck or cave, or underneath a large ship. The risk is much greater for scuba divers as surface supplied divers have a secure breathing gas supply, and can follow the umbilical out of the overhead environment without extreme urgency. Loss of visibility can also allow the diver to approach other hazards such as pinch points and unexpected delta-p hazards. Scuba divers who enter overhead environments can take precautions to mitigate the effects of the two most common causes of loss of visibility, which are siltout and dive light failure. To compensate for dive light failure the standard procedure is to carry at least three lights, each of which is sufficient for the planned dive, and siltout can be managed by ensuring a continuous and correctly marked guideline to the exit, and staying close to it at all times. [33] In extreme circumstances the diver may not be able to read critical data from instruments and this may compromise a safe ascent.

Hazards inherent in the diver

Pre-existing physiological and psychological conditions in the diver

Some physical and psychological conditions are known or suspected to increase the risk of injury or death in the underwater environment, or to increase the risk of a stressful incident developing into a serious incident culminating in injury or death. Conditions which significantly compromise the cardiovascular system, respiratory system or central nervous system may be considered absolute or relative contraindications for diving, as are psychological conditions which impair judgement or compromise the ability to deal calmly and systematically with deteriorating conditions which a competent diver should be able to manage. [42]

Hydration

Dehydration before or during a dive can increase the risk of decompression sickness, and excessive hydration before a dive can increase the risk of immersion pulmonary oedema. Normal hydration avoids both of these predisposing factors [43]

Diver behaviour and competence

Safety of underwater diving operations can be improved by reducing the frequency of human error and the consequences when it does occur. [44] Human error can be defined as an individual's deviation from acceptable or desirable practice which culminates in undesirable or unexpected results. [45] Human error is inevitable and everyone makes mistakes at some time. The consequences of these errors are varied and depend on many factors. Most errors are minor and do not cause significant harm, but others can have catastrophic consequences. Human error and panic are considered to be the leading causes of dive accidents and fatalities. [44]

Hazards of the diving support infrastructure

Diving support infrastructure for recreational diving includes dive buddies, charter boats, dive shops, schools etc. Professional diving support infrastructure includes dive teams, diving spreads, diving support vessels, remotely operated vehicles, occupational health and safety legislation and enforcement, contractors and clients.

Behaviour of support personnel

Where support personnel are required, their input and behaviour can have a profound effect on diving operational safety. This is particularly relevant to professional diving operations where the safety of the working diver is to a large extent in the hands of the support personnel, specifically the diving supervisor, standby diver, medical and life-support systems support, and responsible behaviour of the employer. [44]

Recreational divers, once competent, are less reliant on support personnel in most cases, but dive boat personnel and owners can provide a safe platform with competent handling and appropriate equipment, or fail to do so, sometimes in ways that are not obvious until after an accident. [47]

Safety culture of the organisation or peer group

Hazards of the dive platform

Movable dive platforms allow diving in a wide range of places that would be otherwise inaccessible, but this mobility leads to a range of hazards inherent in a mobile platform, and additional hazards of the technology used to move the platform or hold it in position.

The dive task and associated equipment

Some underwater tasks may present hazards related to the activity or the equipment used, In some cases it is the use of the equipment, in some cases transporting the equipment during the dive, and in some cases the additional task loading, or any combination of these that is the hazard. [53] [54]

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A buoyancy compensator (BC), also called a buoyancy control device (BCD), stabilizer, stabilisor, stab jacket, wing or adjustable buoyancy life jacket (ABLJ), depending on design, is a type of diving equipment which is worn by divers to establish neutral buoyancy underwater and positive buoyancy at the surface, when needed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surface marker buoy</span> Buoy towed by a scuba diver to indicate the divers position

A surface marker buoy, SMB, dive float or simply a blob is a buoy used by scuba divers, at the end of a line from the diver, intended to indicate the diver's position to people at the surface while the diver is underwater. Two kinds are used; one (SMB) is towed for the whole dive, and indicates the position of the dive group throughout the dive, and the other, a delayed surface marker buoy, DSMB or decompression buoy, is deployed towards the end of the dive as a signal to the surface that the divers have started to ascend, and where they are going to surface. Both types can also function as a depth reference for controlling speed of ascent and accurately maintaining depth at decompression stops. Surface marker buoys are also used by freedivers in open water, to indicate the approximate position of the diver when submerged. They may also be used to support a catch bag or fish stringer by underwater hunters and collectors. A DSMB is considered by recreational scuba divers and service providers to be a highly important item of safety equipment, yet its use is not part of the entry level recreational diver training for all training agencies, and there are significant hazards associated with incompetent use.

Diving physics, or the physics of underwater diving is the basic aspects of physics which describe the effects of the underwater environment on the underwater diver and their equipment, and the effects of blending, compressing, and storing breathing gas mixtures, and supplying them for use at ambient pressure. These effects are mostly consequences of immersion in water, the hydrostatic pressure of depth and the effects of pressure and temperature on breathing gases. An understanding of the physics behind is useful when considering the physiological effects of diving, breathing gas planning and management, diver buoyancy control and trim, and the hazards and risks of diving.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surface-supplied diving</span> Underwater diving breathing gas supplied from the surface

Surface-supplied diving is a mode of underwater diving using equipment supplied with breathing gas through a diver's umbilical from the surface, either from the shore or from a diving support vessel, sometimes indirectly via a diving bell. This is different from scuba diving, where the diver's breathing equipment is completely self-contained and there is no essential link to the surface. The primary advantages of conventional surface supplied diving are lower risk of drowning and considerably larger breathing gas supply than scuba, allowing longer working periods and safer decompression. Disadvantages are the absolute limitation on diver mobility imposed by the length of the umbilical, encumbrance by the umbilical, and high logistical and equipment costs compared with scuba. The disadvantages restrict use of this mode of diving to applications where the diver operates within a small area, which is common in commercial diving work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scuba diving</span> Swimming underwater, breathing gas carried by the diver

Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The name scuba is an anacronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus" and was coined by Christian J. Lambertsen in a patent submitted in 1952. Scuba divers carry their own source of breathing gas, usually compressed air, affording them greater independence and movement than surface-supplied divers, and more time underwater than free divers. Although the use of compressed air is common, a gas blend with a higher oxygen content, known as enriched air or nitrox, has become popular due to the reduced nitrogen intake during long or repetitive dives. Also, breathing gas diluted with helium may be used to reduce the effects of nitrogen narcosis during deeper dives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diver rescue</span> Rescue of a distressed or incapacitated diver

Diver rescue, usually following an accident, is the process of avoiding or limiting further exposure to diving hazards and bringing a diver to a place of safety. A safe place generally means a place where the diver cannot drown, such as a boat or dry land, where first aid can be administered and from which professional medical treatment can be sought. In the context of surface supplied diving, the place of safety for a diver with a decompression obligation is often the diving bell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ascending and descending (diving)</span> Procedures for safe ascent and descent in underwater diving

In underwater diving, ascending and descending is done using strict protocols to avoid problems caused by the changes in ambient pressure and the hazards of obstacles near the surface such as collision with vessels. Diver certification and accreditation organisations place importance on these protocols early in their diver training programmes. Ascent and descent are historically the times when divers are injured most often when failing to follow appropriate procedure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emergency ascent</span> An ascent to the surface by a diver in an emergency

An emergency ascent is an ascent to the surface by a diver in an emergency. More specifically, it refers to any of several procedures for reaching the surface in the event of an out-of-air emergency, generally while scuba diving.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scuba skills</span> The skills required to dive safely using a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.

Scuba skills are skills required to dive safely using self-contained underwater breathing apparatus, known as a scuba set. Most of these skills are relevant to both open-circuit scuba and rebreather scuba, and many also apply to surface-supplied diving. Some scuba skills, which are critical to divers' safety, may require more practice than standard recreational training provides to achieve reliable competence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surface-supplied diving skills</span> Skills and procedures required for the safe operation and use of surface-supplied diving equipment

Surface supplied diving skills are the skills and procedures required for the safe operation and use of surface-supplied diving equipment. Besides these skills, which may be categorised as standard operating procedures, emergency procedures and rescue procedures, there are the actual working skills required to do the job, and the procedures for safe operation of the work equipment other than diving equipment that may be needed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of underwater diving</span> Hierarchical outline list of articles related to underwater diving

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to underwater diving:

Investigation of diving accidents includes investigations into the causes of reportable incidents in professional diving and recreational diving accidents, usually when there is a fatality or litigation for gross negligence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index of underwater diving</span> Alphabetical listing of underwater diving related topics

The following index is provided as an overview of and topical guide to underwater diving:

Diving procedures are standardised methods of doing things that are commonly useful while diving that are known to work effectively and acceptably safely. Due to the inherent risks of the environment and the necessity to operate the equipment correctly, both under normal conditions and during incidents where failure to respond appropriately and quickly can have fatal consequences, a set of standard procedures are used in preparation of the equipment, preparation to dive, during the dive if all goes according to plan, after the dive, and in the event of a reasonably foreseeable contingency. Standard procedures are not necessarily the only courses of action that produce a satisfactory outcome, but they are generally those procedures that experiment and experience show to work well and reliably in response to given circumstances. All formal diver training is based on the learning of standard skills and procedures, and in many cases the over-learning of the skills until the procedures can be performed without hesitation even when distracting circumstances exist. Where reasonably practicable, checklists may be used to ensure that preparatory and maintenance procedures are carried out in the correct sequence and that no steps are inadvertently omitted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human factors in diving equipment design</span> Influence of the interaction between the user and the equipment on design

Human factors in diving equipment design are the influences of the interactions between the user and equipment in the design of diving equipment and diving support equipment. The underwater diver relies on various items of diving and support equipment to stay alive, healthy and reasonably comfortable and to perform planned tasks during a dive.

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