The CDG has a deeply ingrained ethos of continuous improvement through learning from the experiences of fellow divers.
The Cave Diving Incident Reporting System is provided by the CDG to enable anyone involved, at whatever level, in the British cave diving community to share that learning.
The CDG Rule on Cave Diver Education details this approach with an explanation of the mentor and mentee obligations of every member of the Group. Caver Diving Incident Reporting is an opportunity for knowledge to be passed from one diver to many divers and so reduce the number of incidents caused by repeat, common factors. Independent analysis of diving fatalities has shown that the elimination of repeated causes of fatal accidents could potentially reduce the fatality rate by a factor of x361.
Review of Individual Cave Diving Incident Reports enables all divers to learn from the anecdotal experiences of fellow divers.
Systematic analysis of incidents over time allows patterns of common causes of failure to be identified. Two published articles addressing British cave diving incidents are available for download.
- British Cave Diving Accidents (PDF 3.1Mb), Churcher, R. A. & Lloyd, O. C.; Proc. Uni. Bristol Spelaeol. Soc., 1980, 15 (3), 161-182. Reproduced by kind permission of the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society.
- The Learning Curve. A Quantitative Analysis of Fatal British Cave Diving Incidents from 1980 to 2005 Brock, D. CDG NL159 April 2006
Cave Diving Incident Reporters are asked to provide a description of the incident and an explanation of the lessons they consider can be learned from it. They are also asked to consider the impact of a number of potential contributory factors:
- Gas Management
- Equipment Management
- Equipment failure
- Training
- Medical Planning
- Procedural
- Cave Environment
- Weather
- Other
Additional information regarding the incident, such as details of the divers involved can be given and the reporter makes the decision whether the incident is published or merely added anonymously into the data. The CDG respects your privacy and whatever your decision, personal information is never published.
Cave Diving Incident Analysis
| Unknown | Neglible | Minor | Major | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equipment Management | 35 | 20 | 9 | 45 |
| Equipment failure | 43 | 29 | 2 | 35 |
| Procedural | 39 | 24 | 16 | 30 |
| Line Management | 47 | 32 | 2 | 28 |
| Cave Environment | 42 | 36 | 11 | 20 |
| Training | 46 | 20 | 26 | 17 |
| Planning | 53 | 36 | 7 | 11 |
| Medical | 57 | 45 | 7 | |
| Gas Management | 57 | 44 | 3 | 5 |
| Other | 95 | 8 | 1 | 5 |
| Weather | 56 | 49 | 1 | 2 |
Contributory Factors
Major contributory factors for all reported incidents.
Links
View Published Incident Reports
Report an incident
CDG Cave Diving Risk Assessment
References
- British Cave Diving Accidents (PDF 3.1Mb), Churcher, R. A. & Lloyd, O. C.; Proc. Uni. Bristol Spelaeol. Soc., 1980, 15 (3), 161-182. Reproduced by kind permission of the University of Bristol Spelaeologocal Society. Further information
The Learning Curve. A Quantitative Analysis of Fatal British Cave Diving Incidents from 1980 to 2005 Brock, D. CDG NL159 April 2006
- 1 Contract Research Report 140/1997, SCUBA diving, A quantitative risk assessment, Prepared by Paras for the Health & Safety Executive
- CDG Policy on incident reporting