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Use a Written Checklist: It Just Might Save Your Life!
Use a Written Checklist: It Just Might Save Your Life!
Use a written list to perform a predive safety check with your buddy before you go for a dive. It will help you catch issues on land before they become problems underwater.
I use a written checklist myeslf and strive to use it before every dive. With it I have caught issues like not turning my air on - more often than I care to admit! If I had jumped in without my air on, that could have resulted in a major problem.
Many injuries and fatalities in diving can be traced back to one or more issues that would have been caught and fixed had the diver(s) adhered to a thorough, written, predive safety check.
Checklists have improved safety in fields as diverse as air traffic safety and surgery - but they only work when you use them, when you use them every time, and they work best when they are written.
Don't rely on your memory. The whole point of a checklist is to help compensate for our human tendency to get distracted, forget key steps, or overlook something that has become routine.
Use a written checklist and use it for every dive and your predive checks will be more thorough and successful in catching issues.
Memorized Checklists Fail to Detect Serious Problems
Memorized Checklists Fail to Detect Serious Problems
Some divers say they don't need a written checklist because they have memorized theirs. Research suggests these divers' confidence is misplaced.
A 1995 study asked 55 divers to perform a pre-dive check of equipment using their memorized, standard pre-dive check.
There were 9 issues with the equipment including cylinder valve not on, cylinder empty, low-pressure inflator not connected to the BC and so on - the types of issues that often contribute to a diving accident.
Only 2 of the 55 divers relying on their memory identified all the faults... and 96% of divers failed to identify one or more flaws in the air supply and BC that could have been fatal upon diving!
Written Checklists Eliminate 1/2 to 2/3 of Diving Mishaps
Written Checklists Eliminate 1/2 to 2/3 of Diving Mishaps
"With adjustment for covariates, written checklist users reported 69% fewer major mishaps (95% CI: 0.10, 0.93), 53% fewer total mishaps (95% CI: 0.27, 0.83), and 56% fewer unsafe conditions (95% CI: 0.22, 0.87)" than divers who used a memorized checklist, or no checklist.
Injuries and fatalities in diving are often traced back to mishaps like improper weighting, faulty equipment, and other issues.
Using a memorized checklist has been found to be no better than using no checklist at all in preventing mishaps. Only a written checklist resulted in a statistically significant reduction in mishaps.
Printable Pre-Dive Checklist
Printable Pre-Dive Checklist
For your pre-dive safety check, below is an example checklist that you may download, print, cut out and laminate. It only works if you take it with you and use it!
Do not rely on this checklist alone. Use your good judgment and get appropriate training for the type of diving you are doing. You may need to adjust this checklist to account for your particular dive equipment and dive plan.
Download Predive safety checklist.pdf
Check Your Gear Too!
Check Your Gear Too!
In addition to a written pre-dive checklist, I also recommend using a written checklist to inspect all your dive gear on a regular basis. Do a check anytime you acquire new gear, get gear back from being serviced, or rent any gear.
A gear check does not have to take a lot of time. You can probably complete it in 5-10 minutes. You just need to thorougly inspect and test all components of your gear to make sure they are functionining and in good condition.
To learn what to look for, and for an example gear checklist, see the Know Your Gear article.
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