Introduction: Scuba diving is an important marine tourism sector, but requires proper safety standards to reduce the risks and increase accessibility to its market. To achieve safety goals, safety awareness and positive safety attitudes in recreational scuba diving operations are essential. However, there is no published research exclusively focusing on scuba divers’ and dive centres’ perceptions toward safety. This study assessed safety perceptions in recreational scuba diving operations, with the aim to inform and enhance safety and risk management programmes within the scuba diving tourism industry.Materials and Methods: Two structured questionnaire surveys were prepared by the organisation Divers Alert Network and administered online to scuba diving operators in Italy and scuba divers in Europe, using a mixture of convenience and snowball sampling. Questions in the survey included experience and safety offered at the dive centre; the buddy system; equipment and accessories for safe diving activities; safety issues in the certification of new scuba divers; incidents/accidents; and attitudes toward safety.Results: 91 scuba diving centres and 3,766 scuba divers participated in the study. Scuba divers gave importance to safety and the responsiveness of service providers, here represented by the dive centres. However, they underestimated the importance of a personal emergency action/assistance plan and, partly, of the buddy system alongside other safety procedures. Scuba divers agreed that some risks, such as those associated with running out of gas, deserve attention. Dive centres gave importance to aspects such as training and emergency action/assistance plans. However, they were limitedly involved in safety campaigning. Dive centres’ perceptions of safety in part aligned with those of scuba divers, with some exceptions.Conclusion: Greater responsibility is required in raising awareness and educating scuba divers, through participation in prevention campaigns and training. The study supports the introduction of programmes aiming to create a culture of safety among dive centres and scuba divers. Two examples, which are described in this paper, include the Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment protocol for dive centres and scuba divers, and the Diving Safety Officer programme to create awareness, improve risk management, and mitigate health and safety risks.
Shark diving tourism is an activity that can contribute significantly to coastal economies, while also offering tremendous help to shark conservation efforts. Nevertheless, like any form of wildlife-based tourism, shark diving poses management challenges revolving around ethical and safety considerations. Safety in shark diving normally focuses on operational self-efficacy and adherence to shark diving codes of conduct to prevent incidents such as shark bites and minimise ecological harm. However, safety issues in shark diving can arise from personal choices to exceed standard certification limits. Any detrimental results are capable of casting doubts on the sustainability of shark diving, thus jeopardising its future as well as shark conservation. This study addressed compliance with shark diving codes of conduct and standard diving safety by examining the knowledge, attitude and behaviour of people who engage in free scuba diving with predatory sharks. The research made use of mixed methods of data collection, including interviews with shark divers at two popular shark diving destinations in Southeast Africa (n = 86) and an online questionnaire survey amongst shark divers (n = 89). The results showed that divers had positive attitudes towards sharks and shark diving. However, a notable proportion declared that they had exceeded certification limits and broken codes of conduct during shark diving. In particular, diving experience and being a professional diver were correlated significantly with poor safety attitudes and behaviour. The results highlight the need to create an understanding among scuba divers of the connection between shark diving safety and conservation, including the negative implications of safety breaches, whether big or small, for the future of shark diving tourism and of sharks.
Low-pressure fabric hyperbaric chambers To the Editor: The Southern African Underwater and Hyperbaric Medical Association (SAUHMA) has released a position statement on low-pressure fabric hyperbaric chambers. [1] The purpose of this statement is to raise awareness about the inappropriate use of lowpressure hyperbaric chambers and potential financial exploitation of members of the public, and it forms part of SAUHMA's strategy to advocate for evidence-based hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The low-pressure fabric hyperbaric chambers (operating at <1.4 atmosphere absolute (ATA)) marketed for sports and alternative medicine have US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for acute mountain sickness only and are designed to be compressed only with air. The FDA prohibits the use of these devices with supplemental oxygen. [2] In South Africa there have been no Medicines Control Council review or cautionary statements, or concerns raised by the Department of Labour, at this stage. SAUHMA has approached the National Department of Health in an attempt to formally regulate hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and in the meantime has taken on the task of self-regulating. A strict hyperbaric facility accreditation system has been set in place to ensure patient safety. The internationally recognised National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 101 Life Safety Code and NFPA 99 Health Care Facilities Code describe the requirements for the construction, operation and maintenance of hyperbaric facilities. [3,4] The Pressure Equipment Regulations (through South African National Standard (SANS) 347) classify a typical Gamow bag (based on volume and maximum operating pressure at <1.5 ATA) as category 'not regulated'. [5] The low-pressure fabric hyperbaric chamber therefore falls outside of any regulated requirements. The Occupational Health and Safety Act No. 85 of 1993: Diving Regulations 2009, [6] promulgated in January 2010, specifies that all persons exposed to pressures in excess of 100 millibar above ambient pressure (1.1 ATA) are required to conform to the requirements of these regulations, unless the treatment concerns medical conditions (non-diving), in which case the facility providing such treatments is required to be accredited by SAUHMA. SANS 347 Annex A provides a schedule of health and safety standards approved by the Department of Labour. ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) PVHO-1 is listed as an approved safety standard. [7] The ASME PVHO-1 standard applies to any pressure vessel that encloses a human within the pressure boundary, with an external or internal pressure exceeding 2 psig above ambient pressure (1.14 ATA). SAUHMA's approved indications require that treatment pressures given be at a minimum of 2 ATA. At this pressure, the pressure vessel is categorised as a category III vessel, subject to all the design, construction, testing and certification requirements listed in SANS 347. Accordingly, SAUHMA requires that all hyperbaric chamber construction is required to satisfy category III requirements, as ...
Introduction: Hyperbaric chamber ventilation (HCV) refers to the intentional introduction of fresh gas, whether air, oxygen, or heliox, into a pressurised hyperbaric chamber in order to remove stale or otherwise compromised gas. The minimum required continuous HCV rate is usually determined by mathematical models derived from the contaminant mass balance within a well-stirred compartment. Non-uniform contaminant distribution patterns inside a hyperbaric chamber could emerge and invalidate the predictions of well-stirred models. Methods: Contaminant distribution was investigated inside a clinical hyperbaric chamber with the aim of comparing well-stirred model predictions with the actual contaminant concentration measurements. Results: Local ventilation effectiveness inside a clinical hyperbaric chamber may be compromised, leading to higher contaminant concentration values compared to the predictions of a mathematical model with a well-stirred assumption. Conclusions: A well-stirred assumption in mathematical models is a useful simplification that allows reasonably accurate estimates of HCV requirements. However, local ventilation effectiveness values in a particular hyperbaric chamber might vary, with the potential for hazardous contaminant accumulation in under-ventilated zones.
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