Came across a stat that 60% of commercial diving fatalities happen in inland/inshore jobs, not offshore

I was reading through some old OSHA dive reports last night and that number really threw me. I always assumed the deep offshore stuff was where the real danger was. But apparently shallow water, low viz, and tight spaces are way more common in the fatality stats. Has anyone else seen similar numbers or have a different take on where the real risk is?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor9295d ago

Wait is that for real? I used to work with a guy who did inland salvage and he always said the scariest part was getting tangled in old fishing nets or debris, not the depth itself. Honestly the stats make sense when you think about it. Inshore you got currents, zero visibility, and you're usually working in tight spots like under piers or inside flooded pipes. Plus the gear failures seem more common when you're bouncing around in shallow chop compared to a stable offshore platform. My old dive instructor lost a buddy in a river job, not even 30 feet down, just got sucked into a culvert and couldn't get out. Tbh the whole industry talks about offshore risks but the real killers are the boring everyday stuff nobody thinks twice about.

jessicamiller5d ago

Is it just me or does that echo how most accidents happen in familiar places, not the ones we're warned about, @taylor929?