Is your regulator a timebomb?

 

Received wisdom has it that faulty equipment is seldom to blame for diving accidents, but a new report by a safety watchdog suggests the opposite – that badly-maintained regulators are killing divers. Special report by Louise Murray

 

British divers are risking their lives by failing to maintain and service their regulators adequately, according to a new report from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Almost half of the regulators tested during the three year HSE investigation into diving deaths would not pass the European standard for regulator performance (EN 250, see box) through ‘lack of maintenance, servicing and cleaning, and incorrect setup’. According to the report, more than a quarter of the studied fatalities could be directly attributed to equipment faults, the bulk of these in regulators.

 

So why is the HSE, a watchdog for safety in the workplace, now taking an interest in recreational diving? Its officers say that they have succeeded in reducing fatalities in the commercial diving sector, and believe they can do the same for recreational divers. HSE inspectors are currently targeting schools rather than clubs, as non-profit training such as exists in BSAC branches does not create a ‘workplace’ situation.

 

 

Excluding rebreather incidents, faulty regulators were ‘confidently identified as the probable cause’ of the accident in 12 of the 46 deaths.  HSE officers believe the actual figure could be even higher, as some sets could not be tested safely at pressure, because they had been immersed in water for too long before they were recovered. Tests were carried out to the standards required for expert evidence in court using an ANSTI machine (see box).

 

In total, 60 regulators were tested, including some from the buddies of the deceased.  Of these, 28 regulators – almost half – failed the European standard test, whether or not they were directly implicated in the demise of the diver.  The reasons for failure included:

• lack of correct servicing or maintenance

• corrosion and wear

• incorrect setup

By ‘incorrect setup’, the report is referring to second stages that had been switched from the conventional right hand side mounting to a left hand side mount; mismatched first and second stages, or personal modifications such as longer hose length and inserted swivels.

 

First and second stages are designed by manufacturers to work together as a unit, so mismatching a first stage with a second stage from a different manufacturer can cause performance problems. According to the HSE, if you want to make modifications to your setup, have it done by a professional.

 

Four of the regulators tested failed the EN250 test at or above 25 metres – according to the HSE this would make them an extremely hard breathe. Of these, one had a split diaphragm and, according to the HSE, would have been delivering almost as much water as air to the user. Another regulator was in such an advanced state of corrosion that it was deemed unsafe to test under pressure.

 

In several of the fatalities, people were diving to the depth  limits of their training, but also close to and beyond the performance limits of the equipment they were using. The report states that the limited performance of certain regulators deeper than 50m should be communicated to UK divers; 20.1 per cent of the deaths occurred at depths of more than 50m.