Alberta Underwater Council

Safe Diver Decree

TO BE A GOOD SAFE DIVER, I SHOULD ALWAYS:

• Maintain good mental and physical fitness for diving. Avoid being under the influence of alcohol or drugs when diving. 
• Keep proficient in diving skills, striving to increase them through  continuous education and reviewing them in controlled conditions after inactivity in diving.
• Be familiar with my dive sites.  If not, obtain a formal  diving orientation from a knowledgeable, local source.   If diving conditions are worse than those in which I am experienced, postpone diving or select an alternate site with better conditions. Engage only in diving activities consistent with my training, experience & fitness level.
• Use complete, well-maintained, reliable equipment with which I am familiar: and inspect it for correct fit and function prior to each dive.  Deny use of my equipment to uncertified divers.  Complete a Dive Buddy Equipment Check before diving. Always have a buoyancy compensation device and submersible pressure gauge
• Listen carefully to dive briefings and directions and respect the advice provided of those supervising my diving activities.
• Adhere to the buddy-system throughout every dive.  Plan dives &  go over all communications, procedures for reuniting in case of separation, and emergency procedures - with my buddy.
• Be proficient in dive table usage.  Make and allow a for a margin of safety. 
• Have a means to monitor depth and time underwater. Limit maximum depth to my level of training and experience.  Ascend at a rate not faster than 30 feet per minute.  In addition, a safety stop of not less than 15 feet for at least 3-5 minutes (or longer) is highly recommended after every non-decompression dive.
• Maintain proper buoyancy.  Adjust weighting at the surface for neutral buoyancy while underwater.  Be buoyant for surface swimming and resting.   Have weights clear for easy removal and establish buoyancy when in distress while diving (practice ditching weights & know how to ditch dive buddy's weights!).
• Breathe properly for diving.  Never breath-hold or skip breathe   when breathing compressed air and avoid excessive hyper-ventilation when breath-hold diving (e.g., snorkelling, free-diving).  Avoid over-exertion while in and under water.
• Always dive within my limitations - mental, physcial, training & experience!