PICTON, New Zealand (7 Aug 2006) -- A coroner has found a crayfish diver suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from his air tank, which led to his death in a diving accident in Marlborough two years ago. Christchurch man Robert Davidson, 35, failed to surface from a solo crayfish dive on July 10, 2004 at Ocean Bay, near Port Underwood. The father of two had been a recreational diver for over 20 years. The Coroner's report, which was released yesterday, concluded that Davidson died of asphyxia because his air tank was heavily contaminated with carbon monoxide. The air in the cylinder contained seven times the "rapidly fatal" limit of carbon monoxide. Coroner Peter Radich found it was "most likely" the carbon monoxide entered the tank on July 7, at Divers World, Picton, despite some expert evidence that said the carbon monoxide could not have come from that commercial operation. Divers World was sold to Dale Marriott and Ben Ashworth on June 1, this year. They did not believe the business was at fault. Ashworth said when they looked into buying the business they knew of Davidson's death. "We took over the business knowing, yes, that it had occurred, but following the information we received we are of the opinion that the air didn't come from this compressor." He said the last analysis done on the compressor came back with better air quality than ever before. Marriott said the compressor was tested by an independent testing station every three months, which was the case before they bought the business as well. She said they and other dive shops followed a regime of compressor maintenance, including regularly changing filters. The Coroner said Davidson was diving alone, which breached safe diving practice, but it was not known whether a diving buddy would have been able to save him. | | The Coroner said the most likely explanation for the high levels of carbon monoxide was that it was "brought about by an idiosyncratic malfunction of the air compressing equipment". Accidental carbon monoxide production was a known, but unusual hazard, he said. "Within relevant industry and diving circles there appears to be insufficient knowledge and understanding about the potential hazard. "The training monitoring and testing regimes are not adequate to deal with the potential hazard." The Coroner recommended thought be given to imposing a mandatory requirement that new and existing commercial air breathing compressor systems be certified by a suitably qualified professional engineer. There should also be greater emphasis on the regular examination of compressor systems to ensure that maintenance regimes were being properly observed and to ensure that there were no uncertified modifications to them. Consideration should be given to an interim measure that it be mandatory to install carbon monoxide monitoring and alarm devices on at least all commercial filling station equipment. The Coroner also recommended the adequacy of the Hazardous Substances (Compressed Gases) Regulation should be reviewed. Ashworth said the measures would add to the already high cost of compliance. Some people simply would not do it, so there would always be backyard air fillers, he said. Most people shopped for air according to cost, so the message had to get through that cheap was not always better when it came to air. SOURCE - Marlborough ExpressSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
