Why do accidents happen?

[wtcreaux]

I tend to follow the 2 strike rule (pulled from the aviation (helicopter) world)......if something happens (NOT catastrophic), I fix it. If it happens again or if ANYTHING else happens, I call it immediately.....I do NOT like/want the accumulation of small, seemingly insignificant events to build into something catastrophic (read "low probability, high risk")

 

[nimoh]

Do you have an example of such that you can share? There might be some preceding elements that we can collectively identify that may help prevent the disaster.

You were right to call me on that Now that I think about more, it is difficult to come up with an actual disaster that doesn't have elements leading up to it.

OOA - has elements leading up to it, and generally isn't a disaster, since you grab your buddy's reg, so a bad example

perhaps a shark attack? - yes, I know a bit of a stretch

It is probably not entirely inaccurate to say around 4 preceeding elements leading up to a disaster, my point was only a slight modification in that we shouldn't rely getting 4 chances before a disaster.

 

[skankpile]

I think complacency is the worst

-Identify targets when diving
-Technical people usually have already weighed and accepted the risk. I'm as scared of dishonoring my instructors as I am of failing.

 

[Cave Diver]

You were right to call me on that Now that I think about more, it is difficult to come up with an actual disaster that doesn't have elements leading up to it.

OOA - has elements leading up to it, and generally isn't a disaster, since you grab your buddy's reg, so a bad example

perhaps a shark attack? - yes, I know a bit of a stretch

It is probably not entirely inaccurate to say around 4 preceeding elements leading up to a disaster, my point was only a slight modification in that we shouldn't rely getting 4 chances before a disaster.

Well, it wasn't really so much trying to call you on it as trying to identify overlooked possibilities. Like you mentioned an OOA situation has elements leading up to it (failure to monitor gas supply during dive, not being close enough to dive buddy to share air, etc.)

Chances are that if we can identify an incident seemingly without a preceding chain of events, we can probably look at it critically and come up with some things that contribute to it that hadn't been previously thought of.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Hubris/Denial - Humans are incredibly adept at believing themselves to be more capable of just about anything than we really are. We're almost as adept at denying that something bad that happened to someone else can possibly happen to us. Because of these traits, we can often put ourselves into situations that are more difficult for us to deal with than we imagined them to be.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Thalassamania]

Probably works well for some problems (such as those you list), but in some cases, the first element might be the disaster.

In cases where the first element is the disaster I suspect that the first element (in reality) was training that did not (for one reason or another) result in an adequate skill level.

 

[graham_s]

I've posted this before, but accidents happen mainly because people don't realise there is a problem until too late.
It's called a disaster curve, and the further along you get the harder it is to climb back up the curve, and the faster the problem gets worse.
The trick is recognising that there is a problem before it is a problem.

 

[Bob DBF]

Good Thread Cave Diver.

Peer pressure can be deadly. I've read all too many reports of people setting out on dives they really didn't think they ought to do, or being convinced to break the dive plan, or stay in the water until they are too low on gas. If the little voice in the back of your head is telling you, "This isn't a good idea!" it's probably right.

Peer pressure is a two edged sword, listening to the wrong people or not listening to the right people. The solution is to pick out the right peers.

I tend to follow the 2 strike rule (pulled from the aviation (helicopter) world)......if something happens (NOT catastrophic), I fix it. If it happens again or if ANYTHING else happens, I call it immediately.....I do NOT like/want the accumulation of small, seemingly insignificant events to build into something catastrophic (read "low probability, high risk")

I use the 3 strike rule, but at 2 I prepare for significant problems, decrease my depth, and start a reevaluation of the dive. And it is not just a matter of equipment failure, it includes the dive plan deteriorating. The problem with focus on continually fixing small issues is that you may not see a bigger issue heading your way.


In my diving over the years, I learned to always listen to the voice that tells me "I shouldn't be here doing this", because it has always been right




Bob
------------------------------------------------
I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

One of my friends always says that dive accidents are usually the result of greed and arrogance. I've heard of too many lobster divers running out of air trying for that one last bug. I know of at least three divers who consider themselves elite and consistently belittle others in their writings. Karma has a way of coming back to bite you.

 

[Fish-R-Man]

You were right to call me on that Now that I think about more, it is difficult to come up with an actual disaster that doesn't have elements leading up to it.

I had to think about this one for a minute. The only thing that I could think of that could possibly not give you some kind of advanced notice for the average diver would be a medical problem.

All gear related issues are mechanical. There should be some kind of warning or symptoms leading up to a failure. If you have a sudden failure you should have some redundency, (octo, buddy, deco bottle, etc)

All weather, water related issues will have visual clues. Viz, current, depth etc. With that information you should be able to determine if you are in a situation that compels you to call the dive.

I think that it would be very difficult to find an accident with one item causing the disaster. They will all be found to have an accumulation of relatively minor problems or poor decisions that caused the final out come.