MELBOURNE, Australia (19 Apr 2007) -- A jury found Melbourne Diving School guilty of failing to properly supervise a man who died while scuba diving with the company. Robert Grant, 32, died after he encountered problems with his rental scuba diving equipment on a Melbourne Diving School dive trip to Portsea on January 17, 2004. Prosecutor John Saunders told the Victorian County Court that Melbourne Diving School (aka Melbourne Diving Services) employed inexperienced instructors and failed to properly train them to safely supervise scuba divers during both training and non-diving diving activities. Saunders argued that the company, which is now in liquidation, had seriously breached Australia's 1985 Occupational Health and Safety Act. Saunders told the court that divers trained in tropical resort destinations while on holiday often lack adequate skills to dive safetly in conditions often encountered in Australia, a problem acknowledged by Melbourne Diving School in their own dive manuals. But the company failed to ensure that its own instructors were adequately trained and capable of safely supervising divers according to Saunders. Melbourne Diving School faces a maximum fine of $250,000. | 
