From a liability standpoint, one would think that the crew should be certified divers at a minimum. Depending upon an agency's training standards, a certified diver may be considered a "certified assistant." I know both PDIC and PSAI consider a certified diver a certified assistant at the level of training that has been completed.
I like the idea of certified assistants because not everyone is cut out to be a divemaster. Divemaster training shouldn't be watered down to allow everyone working in the diving industry to meet a standard for employment. I'd rather have at least one or two top quality divemasters on a boat to lead a dive and truly be able to handle emergencies like professionals rather than an entire crew who barely meets the real-world standards for divemastering. At a recent DEMA meeting, the focus groups complained most loudly about poor standards for dive pros affecting the standards of open water divers.
Your employer should obtain legal advice from an attorney regarding the role of the crew in setting up equipment. If the operation goes to the extreme that some operators do by not letting the diver touch his or her own gear, that would be a red flag to me not to patron such an operation. First, don't touch my gear. Believe me, you wouldn't know how to put my rig together the way I like it. If you see an obvious problem, by all means, help me out. Even though I have 30 years of experience and dive a state of the art rig, I'm not immune to making a mistake. I'd rather someone call my attention to what might be wrong rather than touch anything.
It's true that some divers are being taught to expect royal service. A friend of mine who worked in Hawaii before moving to Vietnam told me that many of the Japanese divers expect you to help them into their wetsuits and set up their rigs. When I worked in the Caymans, I was told I needed to do more for the divers so we could all get better tips. Coming from an agency that expected every diver to be entirely responsible for himself or herself it was culture shock to work at a resort.
You need to identify your customers and assess their needs. It might be an opportunity for the crew and the DM's to make more money for more service. If a diver isn't comfortable setting up his or her own rig, I would bet that diver shouldn't be a diver in the first place and needs to dive with a divemaster for which the DM should be tipped.
With abbreviated time frames for training, many dive centers and instructors do not take the high road and exceed today's poor minimum standards. It takes an exceptional instructor to produce quality in today's training arena. Resort staff are challenged with catering to the uncomfortable and the highly experienced alike. Experienced divers want to be left alone. The uncomfortable need help. Policies need to be in place so both groups have a great time.
A suggestion: record the number of uncomfortable divers you get every week compared to comfortable divers and send those results to the Recreational Scuba Training Council. Let them know they are making a mockery of the sport.
