Open Water Movie

The movie Open Water hits the cinemas today and many divers have already caught the previews over the last week. A select group of dive operators who are corporate members of the Singapore Underwater Federation (S.U.F.) were also exclusively invited to a preview last month by the Shaw Organization.



It has been a hot point of discussion between dive industry professionals concerning the movie prior to its launch to ensure that the public is aware of the risks involved with diving and how to avoid them.



scuba-doc



All divers are encouraged to view the movie and let it serve as a reminder of the importance of thorough dive training for both the recreational diver and more importantly the dive professional. Every entry level course, be it Open Water Diver for the recreational diver or Divemaster for the dive pro, is vital to ensure basic skills are mastered because only then can continuing education make sense.



Both the recreational diver and the dive pro have responsibilites.

The diver must be responsible for and confident enough to consider his/her own safety, and responsible for selecting a dive operator wisely and not just based on price.

The dive pro must follow through every area of responsibility required of a dive professional (these roles and responsibilities are set in black and white in the professional manuals), follow internal standard operating procedures, as well as adhere to local practises.



It's best for the divemaster or instructor to watch the movie and relate to the very real situation depicted in the movie instead of mocking what was done wrong. Learning from every case only makes our risk management better.



The group of dive operators, currently totalling 16, who are corporate members of the S.U.F. have also signed a pledge to adhere to a National Operational Code of Practise(NOCOP). The Code ensures standard operating procedures amongst the participating operators amongst other practices, checks and balances. It is exciting times for us with improvements finally taking shape. There will be many changes for the better, for example, operators will be required to submit and be checked on their standard operating procedures.







With these changes ahead of us, there are obvious costs involved and we sincerely hope the dive community will support the operators who are trying very hard to step up the standard of dive operations in Singapore. These operators will be listed on screen before the movie or you can check them out on the link below.



Singapore Underwater Federation



Beaver

PADI Master Instructor 99087