STONEY COVE MARINE TRIALS LTD FINED FOLLOWING HSE PROSECUTION

HSE Press release E246:03 - 23 December 2003

Stoney Cove Marine Trials Ltd of Leicester was today fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £40,000 costs at Warwick Crown Court, after pleading guilty to failing to ensure that divers on a recreational diving course were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

The company failed to comply with their duty under section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) in that on 15 October 2000 they failed to conduct their undertaking in such a way as to ensure that persons involved in a recreational diving course, including Paul Gallacher, were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

The prosecution followed an investigation by the HSE into the circumstances surrounding the death of Paul Gallacher, which revealed failure to comply with the provisions of the HSWA and the Regulations on the part of those running the course.

On 15 October 2000, Mr Gallacher, a trainee diver, was undertaking a Normoxic Trimix dive as part of a course being conducted by Stoney Cove Marine Trials, at Wastwater, Cumbria. The Normoxic Trimix diving course is governed by The International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD).

The company did not check Mr Gallacher's written diving records, in accordance with the IANTD Standards and Procedures to assess that he satisfied the prerequisites for attending the course. The site-specific risk assessment was not sufficient in that a number of items were not adequately recorded. Stoney Cove did not accept that their failings caused Paul Gallacher's death and the court sentenced them on that basis.

HSE Principal Inspector Mike Welham said: "Stoney Cove Marine Trials Ltd is at the forefront of recreational diver safety and the Stoney Cove dive site has an excellent safety record but in this case, where people were being taught technical diving in a remote location they failed to manage the diving operation. The company has reviewed and changed its procedures and co-operated with HSE in its investigation. There is a need for all recreational diving training organisations and individual instructors to properly plan and manage dives in accordance with the Regulations to ensure the safety of all those involved and to plan for what could go wrong. An approved code of practice and guidance exists under the Regulations and is available from HSE. Additionally HSE diving inspectors are available to advise on the management of health and safety aspects of recreational diving."

Notes to editors

1. Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 states that "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby, are not thereby exposed to risks to their health and safety".

2. The Diving at Work Regulations 1997 seek to control the hazards associated with diving at work. They apply to all commercial diving in Britain. Practical guidance on how to comply with these regulations is set out in five approved codes of practice:- 'Commercial diving projects offshore', 'Commercial diving projects inland/offshore', 'Recreational diving projects' and 'Media diving projects and Scientific and Archaeological diving projects'. For more information visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/diving/osd/acop.htm.

3. General advice on diving can be found on the HSE website at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/diving

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