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(not sure if this should be in the Mishap Analysis sub-forum. Mods, feel free to move the thread as considered appropriate)
A very popular concept in systematic HES work - at least in my part of the world - is the "incident pyramid". It's somewhat related to BSAC's classical incident pit concept, but it's upside down. Basically, what the incident pyramid theory says is that for each fatality, there's ten serious accidents. For each serious accident, there's three minor accidents. For each minor accident, there's twenty incidents without injuries or damage¹. So what? Well, if you want to work systematically to reduce the number of fatalities and serious accidents, there's just not enough of those to see any patterns. So, you start at the bottom of the pyramid, with the minor incidents. There's a lot of them, so you have the opportunity to see patterns. Also, if you work systematically to reduce the number of minor incidents, you'll reduce the number of minor accidents, reduce the number of serious accidents and, if you work well and are lucky, you'll reduce the number of fatalities to zero.
I've taken to applying this method to my own diving. After almost every dive with my regular buddy, we review the dive. What did we do right? What didn't we do right? (If I've been diving with an instabuddy, I try to do the same thing by myself, since I know that quite a few people will consider me a hysterical safety freak if I try to do it with them) Generally, if the first response is "everything was OK, nothing went wrong", I reconsider. There's always something which didn't work out quite as it should. At least 99 times out of a hundred. No-one is perfect - I know I'm not - and we all make errors. Actually, if we can't find any fault with the way we dived, it's an indication that we didn't have enough focus on safety and skills.
Do you analyze your dives? Do you search for minor errors and possible improvement, or are you happy with the way you dive? Myself, I try to never be happy with the way I do things. I know I'm human, and humans make errors. I do, too. And I know that my wife will be seriously pi$$ed off at me if I go and get myself killed or seriously injured through stupidity or recklessness. I really don't want my wife to be seriously pi$$ed off at me, even if I were dead...
¹ Don't get hung up over the numbers. The ratios really aren't important. It's the principle that counts.
A very popular concept in systematic HES work - at least in my part of the world - is the "incident pyramid". It's somewhat related to BSAC's classical incident pit concept, but it's upside down. Basically, what the incident pyramid theory says is that for each fatality, there's ten serious accidents. For each serious accident, there's three minor accidents. For each minor accident, there's twenty incidents without injuries or damage¹. So what? Well, if you want to work systematically to reduce the number of fatalities and serious accidents, there's just not enough of those to see any patterns. So, you start at the bottom of the pyramid, with the minor incidents. There's a lot of them, so you have the opportunity to see patterns. Also, if you work systematically to reduce the number of minor incidents, you'll reduce the number of minor accidents, reduce the number of serious accidents and, if you work well and are lucky, you'll reduce the number of fatalities to zero.
I've taken to applying this method to my own diving. After almost every dive with my regular buddy, we review the dive. What did we do right? What didn't we do right? (If I've been diving with an instabuddy, I try to do the same thing by myself, since I know that quite a few people will consider me a hysterical safety freak if I try to do it with them) Generally, if the first response is "everything was OK, nothing went wrong", I reconsider. There's always something which didn't work out quite as it should. At least 99 times out of a hundred. No-one is perfect - I know I'm not - and we all make errors. Actually, if we can't find any fault with the way we dived, it's an indication that we didn't have enough focus on safety and skills.
Do you analyze your dives? Do you search for minor errors and possible improvement, or are you happy with the way you dive? Myself, I try to never be happy with the way I do things. I know I'm human, and humans make errors. I do, too. And I know that my wife will be seriously pi$$ed off at me if I go and get myself killed or seriously injured through stupidity or recklessness. I really don't want my wife to be seriously pi$$ed off at me, even if I were dead...
¹ Don't get hung up over the numbers. The ratios really aren't important. It's the principle that counts.