Dive & Survive with Checklists
Think back to your Open Water scuba certification training - maybe you were taught a mnemonic "checklist" like BWRAF (BCD, weights, releases, air, final OK) to perform a pre-dive buddy safety check. Using a predive checklist before every dive can help reduce mishaps and accidents. While fatalities are relatively rare (but still too common), mishaps and injuries are quite common in diving. Divers self-report becoming injured in 3 out of every 100 dives and a mishap like becoming low on air, having an uncontrolled rapid ascent, or losing control of your buoyancy happen on more than 2 out of every 100 dives. Don't be one of those divers. Do you already perform a pre-dive safety check before every dive? Good job, if not, you should!
However, did you know that performing a safety check is not enough? Research suggests checklists are most helpful in reducing mishaps when they are written. Using a mental checklist (like trying to remember BWRAF and its details) is simply not as effective as referring to a written list. Divers Alert Network (DAN) conducted a study of over 1,000 participants that found that divers who refer to written checklists prevent about 30-40% of mishaps compared to divers who are using mental checklists or no checklists at all. This research in diving is also supported by similar studies of the efficacy of written checklists in fields like aviation (fewer crashes - a big factor in how airlines have become as safe as they are today) and surgery (checklists reduce fatalities and improve recovery times). Surgeons and commercial airline pilots will attest that checklists make them better professionals and save lives. They can prevent accidents, reduce injuries, and save lives in diving too.
Become a safer diver; start using a written checklist on your next dive!
Many versions of written checklists are available online in waterproof versions for purchase, including from PADI through your local dive shop. Or you can use any dive slate and write your own! I'd encourage you to review your checklist for completeness for your dive gear, conditions, and training. For example, I have a checklist that is based on PADI's BWRAF items and questions to which I've added the following:
BCD/Buoyancy: Drysuit zipped, inflate, deflate?
Weights: Adjust for fresh/salt (if changing)? Secure?
Air: Smell and taste OK? Analyze O2 percentage (for nitrox divers)? Computer set to correct O2 percentage (air, or nitrox mix - all divers should verify this)? Ascent pressure?
Final OK: Computer on, battery OK? Audible and visual signalling devices? Cutting tools? Feeling good/any concerns? Any diver should be able to end a dive at any time for any reason - if you're not feeling up for the dive, speak up and skip it. A good buddy will thank you for being responsible.
OK, now you have a written checklist. How should you use it to reduce your risk of mishaps, injuries and death?
Include key items in your list that if forgotten would significantly increase your risk (e.g. forgetting to open your cylinder valve fully, or having a weight system that is loose, comes detached and results in an uncontrolled positively buoyant ascent). It does not have to include everything you do as a diver.
Make a habit of refering to the written list, item by item, before every dive. Checklists only work when we use them, and give the list and each item our full attention. You don't have to spend a lot of time, but go step by step and verify that every item on the list is complete or correct.
But don't take my word for it, read DAN's study on pre-dive checklist effectiveness in preventing issues in diving and decide for yourself if a written checklist is worth your time:
Shabbar I Ranapurwala, Petar J Denoble, Charles Poole, Kristen L Kucera, Stephen W Marshall, Steve Wing
International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 45, Issue 1, February 2016, Pages 223–231, https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyv292
Published: 03 November 2015
Listen to Professor Simon Mitchell explain the human factors in diving that we should consider to be safer divers on YouTube. He spoke at a British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) Conference in 2019. BSAC is a dive training agency.
Human factors and personal scuba diving safety with Prof. Simon Mitchell | #BSAC19conf
His talk covers two main topics: first, how to make fewer bad decisions where we know we are doing the wrong thing but do it anyway (e.g. I'm going to watch these sharks just a little longer even though I'm already at the cylinder pressure where I said I would end the dive) and second, how to make fewer errors (where we intend to do the right thing, but forget or do the wrong thing by accident).
Read what DAN has to say about checklists in its blog post:
Predive Checklists Increase Diving Safety
Want to dive even deeper into the power of checklists? Read an excellent book on the power of checklists in general to help reduce errors in our complex modern world:
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, Atul Gawande