GLOUCESTER, UK — A judge has described the death of a diver in a Gloucestershire lock as "so obviously avoidable". David Moore, 29, from Southsea, Hampshire, was working in a lock at Upper Lode at Forthampton near Tewkesbury in 2004, when a dam burst. British Waterways was ordered to pay £162,000, Sea Technical Services in Hampshire, £21,000, and its company director Christopher Drake, £8,000. All had admitted charges brought under the Heath and Safety at Work Act. Judge Mark Horton said that tragic was too small a word to describe the untimely death of a young man. He said British Waterways would have appreciated that the dam was ineffective had they carried out a full structural survey before starting the maintenance work. "It is particularly grave when the events leading to his death were in my judgement so obviously avoidable, as this prosecution has demonstrated," he added. Speaking after the hearing, Pete Sieniewicz, a diving inspector for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said: "This case has resulted from the committed efforts of both ourselves and the Gloucestershire Police over several years and has highlighted the serious hazard of differential pressure to divers, especially to those working on construction projects. "The importance of planning and managing major projects - such as the one in this case - cannot be emphasised enough. "In my opinion, it is not good enough to make decisions on the hoof or try and deal with a problem as things start to go wrong. You cannot take a gamble with peoples' lives. "The problem of differential pressure highlighted by this case is so important that we are about to publish health and safety guidance to the diving industry, based on research in this area." David Moore's brother, Simon Moore, said: "It's very difficult to capture in words what a special guy David was. He was everybody's best friend. | 
