Fathom Five 2005 Scuba Diver Safety Awareness Program (SDSAP)

Fathom Five2005 Scuba DiverSafety Awareness Program(SDSAP) Karen Lassen, Parks Canada Glen Dunham, Parks Canada Tara Harpur, Parks Canada, Diver Registration Office Dr. George Harpur, Tobermory Hyperbaric Centre Raimund Krob, Ontario Underwater Council

The goals of this presentation are to: • show you why Fathom Five needs a Scuba Diver Safety Awareness Program (SDSAP) • familiarize you with the stakeholders that contributed to the development of the Fathom Five SDSAP • show you the major components of the Fathom Five SDSAP and the estimated costs • inform you of the approach employed • invite you to submit any final improvements / suggestions • ask for your approval to proceed and advise you of the next steps

Why Fathom Five needs a Scuba Diver Safety Awareness Program After a 7-year track record of no fatalities between 1989 and 1995, the annual Scuba Diver Fatality Rate-per-2,000 registrations has started an unacceptable and accelerating upward trend. The goal of this SDSAP is to reverse this trend.

What can happen when you implement an SDSAP… Fathom Five SDSAP implemented beginning of 2005 Dive Season Important: There is absolutely no way we can EVER be sure that the Fathom Five SDSAP we implemented was the direct cause of having (0) Scuba Fatalities in 2005 and to date in 2006, but we think it’s reasonable to assume that it didn’t hurt.

Fathom Five SDSAP Stakeholders* • Parks Canada (Fathom Five) staff • Tobermory Hyperbaric Centre staff • Tobermory Dive Retailers / Charter Operators • Ontario Underwater Council • Board Members • Retail Members • Instructor Members • Dive Master Members • Club Executive Members • Scuba Diving OUC Members & non-OUC Members *Stakeholders are all the groups/people that contributed to and/or will benefit from Fathom Five’s 2005 Scuba Diver Safety Awareness Program (SDSAP)

1* Fatality 10* Major Injuries 100* Minor Injuries 1000* Unsafe Acts The “Standard Accident Pyramid” Theoretical Model *Note: numbers shown are not representative of Scuba Diving and are shown for illustrative (theoretical) purposes only. • Every 1000* unsafe acts will drive 100* minor injuries • Every 100* minor injuries will drive 10* major injuries • Every 10* major injuries will drive 1* fatality. • To reduce fatalities at the top of the pyramid, reduce the numbers of unsafe acts at the bottom of the pyramid! • To reduce unsafe acts at the bottom of the pyramid, increase safety awareness! • To increase safety awareness, implement a safety awareness program!

The 6 “building blocks” of Fathom Five’s SDSAP • A revised Scuba Diver Registration form • A revised Fathom Five “Diving Guide” brochure • A brand-new Fathom Five “Scuba Diver Safety Recommendations & Regulations” poster • A brand-new Fathom Five “Scuba Diver Fatality Charts” document • A brand-new Fathom Five “Scuba Diver Self-Evaluation Checklist” • A brand-new Fathom Five “Scuba Diving Sites” document All SDSAP deliverables feature a common “look & feel”, employ consistent language & terminology, and reinforce on one-another.

Estimated Incremental Costs of the SDSAP’s 6 building blocks • $200 (assume 5,000 b&w copies @ 4¢ per copy) • $0 (assume brochure is being reprinted anyways) • $230 (assume $30 for 1 colour 3-foot by 4-foot poster plus $200 for 5,000 b&w copies @ 4¢ per copy) • $0 (assume 1 x 8.5” x 11” colour print) • $200 (assume 5,000 b&w copies @ 4¢ per copy) • $200 (assume 5,000 b&w copies @ 4 ¢ per copy) Total: $830 These costs are estimates based on the identified assumptions only. Therefore if any of the underlying assumptions change, then so will the costs.

SDSAP deliverable #1: Revise old Diver Registration form (below) The old registration card took scuba divers’ names, took their addresses, took their information, and took their money. In exchange, scuba divers were given little more than a numbered plastic tag.

SDSAP deliverable #1: New Scuba Diver Registration form (below) The revised Diver Registration now includes Emergency Contact information, e-mail address, and # of dives fields. During registration, Registration Office staff will give every registering diver a copy of the “Fathom Five Scuba Diver Safety Recommendations & Regulations” document (see Slide 10) to keep, as well as step them through it. Please mouse-over the icon to view.

SDSAP deliverable #2: Completely-revised “Diving Guide” brochure • More than 100 updates, featuring: • Updated Safety recommendations • New “Emergency Contact” numbers • “Caution” symbols for selected sites • Dozens of updates on Dive sites All registering divers will be given a copy of this revised Fathom Five Diving Guide brochure to keep. A soft copy of the brochure will be included in this presentation as soon As Parks Canada provides it.

SDSAP deliverable #3: Brand-new “Safety Recommendations & Regulations poster AND handout” A poster-sized version of this document will be prominently displayed on a wall in the Diver Registration Office. An 8.5” x 11” version of this document will be handed out to every registering diver to keep. Registration Office staff will thoroughly review the contents of the document with every diver as part of the registration process. Please mouse-over to view.

SDSAP deliverable #4: Scuba Diver Fatality Charts This document will be made available by Registration Office staff to registering divers upon request only, and for viewing only. Please mouse-over to view.

SDSAP deliverable #5: Scuba Diver Self-Evaluation Checklist The proposal is to either post this in 8.5” x 11” format in the Diver Registration office, or to make it available to be handed out to Registering Divers. Mouse-over to view.

SDSAP deliverable #6: Fathom Five Scuba Sites The proposal is to post this document in 8.5” x 11” format in the Diver Registration office, and to make it available to be handed out (or sold*) to Registering Divers. (* ~$1 per copy if the GPS coordinates had an additional digit of accuracy). Mouse-over to view.

The approach that was employed: • Meeting called with Parks Canada Fathom Five Staff Karen Lassen & Glen Dunham, Dr. George Harpur, and OUC Director of Sport Safety Raimund Krob on 2005-03-20 • All available scuba statistics for Fathom Five, Ontario, and North America were reviewed. • The team then brainstormed & documented the many ideas • Brainstormed ideas were filtered into 2 categories: • “immediately actionable” ideas (these had to be inexpensive, easy, & fast), and • “for future consideration” ideas • The team then executed an attack plan on the “immediately actionable” ideas, through an iterative, e-mail intensive, rapid-fire authoring-and-peer-review process until completion 8 days later (2005-03-28). • A walk-through was conducted on 2005-03-29 • Archived “for future consideration” ideas for later • A walk-through was conducted on 2005-05-04 with Tara Harpur • A 2nd walk-through was conducted on 2005-05-18 with Tara Harpur

Any improvements or suggestions (immediately-actionable or otherwise)? • - • - • - • - • - • - • -

Next steps… • Secure your approval to proceed • If you do not approve, please advise why not • Also please advise what you would approve • Print everything that needs to be printed • Post everything that needs to be posted • Inform / Train Diver Registration Office Management & Staff • Monitor roll-out closely & feed back to Parks Canada & OUC.

Back-up Slide/s • Reducing fatalities by applying safety awareness to “Standard Accident Pyramid” theoretical model. • TBD • TBD

Fathom Five 2005 Scuba Diver Safety Awareness Program (SDSAP)