Book review – Scuba Diving Operational Risk Management

If diving is a risky business, then scuba diving in the military makes it riskier still. A new book from an ex-military diver unpacks risk management for recreational divers.

‘Scuba Diving Operational Risk Management – An SAS approach to principles, techniques and application’ is the latest book from specialist dive publisher, Dived Up Publications.

Author Claudio Gino Ferreri certainly knows what he’s talking about, with an extensive CV covering his time in the Australian SAS (special forces), and as a senior sergeant with the Western Australian police counter­terrorism and bomb disposal teams.

Claudio’s particular interest though is the area of risk management, which is of course something all diving agencies train divers to think about every time they enter the water (strictly speaking, before they enter it.)

As with any management process, the approaches to evaluating risk are determined by a series of models, which the book considers stage by stage. There are tables and graphs to help bring the risk evaluation to life, starting with level 1 (lowest risk) up to level 5 (high risk activities.)

a level of planning that ordinary sport divers are unaccustomed to

Like the everyday risk assessment dive managers will be familiar with, the evaluative steps consider the likelihood of any particular incident occurring, as well as the consequences should it occur.

At the core of risk management is planning, and the focus is on people, tasks, mitigations and responsibilities. Whether you’re running a commercial outfit or diving with a group of friends, the principles described here work equally well. What Claudio does so successfully is to add another tier of detail on top and describe a level of planning that ordinary sport divers are unaccustomed to.

Despite the military and commercial origins of the book, the principles described do apply to all divers, from recreational up to the extreme end of technical diving. Real world scenarios are considered, so the reader isn’t left wondering what the relevance is to their day-to-day experience. For example, Claudio includes an extensive list of what-ifs such as pilotage to site, water entry, use of incorrect equipment through to descent to the bottom, dive activity and ascent to the exit.

Significant white space is given to planning tables, and even a ‘risk register’ template that the reader might wish to recreate in a spreadsheet and use in the real world.

There is extensive thought and planning given over to the cutting edge of diving, albeit with an annex covering working underwater, rebreathers, and deeper diving which the author lumps under ‘advanced diving’.

Risk management is very much a ‘before’ activity, so identifying and negating problems before they can occur. But the book also goes into detail about risk investigations, post-dive analysis and developing effective mitigations against problems reoccuring.

This book is not a personal account, so anyone hoping for a window into the experiences of an SAS diver is going to be disappointed. You could argue that military memoirs offer plenty by way of thrills, although what Claudio Gino Ferreri has produced is far more important: he is lifting the lid on how those at the top actually operate in the real world, rather than the movies.

Scuba Diving Operational Risk Management is not easy reading, but you could argue it’s required reading for anyone who could benefit from becoming a more diligent and careful diver. In truth, that’s all of us.

Scuba Diving Operational Risk Management by Claudio Gino Ferreri is available now direct from Dived Up Publications and other book retailers, priced £20 RRP.