Recent diving deaths highlight danger to commercial divers from equipment failure

Is your dive equipment in tip-top condition?  Would you bet your life on it?

Two recent deaths in the United States from diving equipment failures highlight the dangers posed to commercial divers from poorly maintained or aging dive equipment.  Commercial divers in the US maritime industry face a host of risks when they do their work, but of all the risks one of the most tragic is death or serious injury because of a problem with dive gear.

According to Illinois police, an equipment failure likely led to the death of a Lake Michigan diver.  The diver’s body was retrieved from about 300 feet under water after he failed to surface for several hours.

Another was found dead while still attached by his air hose to his commercial fishing vessel off of Quonset Point in Rhode Island.  The State Medical Examiner found that a dive equipment malfunction cut off his air supply while he was diving for shellfish.

Commercial divers depend on their employers to provide them with safe, well-maintained, and up-to-date equipment.  Death or injury from equipment failures can be avoided with proper maintenance and vigilance.  No commercial diver deserves to suffer a water death while just doing their job.

You can read more about dive equipment failures in our law library article “Commercial Diving Injuries due to Equipment Failure” on our sister website “Jones Act and Maritime Law Attorney”.