PADI Risk Management and Liability 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A PADI Open Water student's medical form reveals a history of spontaneous pneumothorax. The correct risk management response is:
- Allow the student to dive if they feel fine that day
- Require written physician clearance before any in-water training (Correct answer)
- Have the student sign an extra waiver and proceed
- Defer the issue until the open water dives
Correct answer: Require written physician clearance before any in-water training
A history of spontaneous pneumothorax is an absolute contraindication to diving that requires physician evaluation and clearance before any in-water activity.
Question 2: When a certified diver hires a PADI Divemaster for a guided dive (not a course), the Divemaster's duty of care is best described as:
- Identical to the duty owed to a student in a course
- A duty to lead safely and intervene in foreseeable emergencies, not to actively train (Correct answer)
- No duty, since the diver is already certified
- Strict liability for any injury during the guided dive
Correct answer: A duty to lead safely and intervene in foreseeable emergencies, not to actively train
A Divemaster guiding certified divers owes a duty to lead safely and respond to foreseeable emergencies, but does not bear the higher duty of a formal instructor-student relationship.
Question 3: Which PADI risk management practice best demonstrates the 'eliminate, reduce, mitigate' hierarchy when students enter a strong-current dive site?
- Proceeding with the dive and briefing students on currents
- Selecting a different site (eliminate), entering at slack tide (reduce), or providing surface marker buoys (mitigate) (Correct answer)
- Requiring students to sign an extra waiver before the dive
- Increasing the student-to-instructor ratio to 1:1
Correct answer: Selecting a different site (eliminate), entering at slack tide (reduce), or providing surface marker buoys (mitigate)
The hierarchy prioritizes removing hazards first, then reducing them, then mitigating residual risk — exemplified by choosing a safer site before accepting mitigations.
Question 4: After a serious dive accident, the instructor's attorney advises them not to make public statements. Which risk management principle supports this advice?
- Preserving the instructor's right to a speedy trial
- Avoiding admissions that could be used as evidence against the instructor (Correct answer)
- Complying with PADI's mandatory silence policy
- Invoking Good Samaritan protections
Correct answer: Avoiding admissions that could be used as evidence against the instructor
Statements made after an incident can be used as admissions against interest in litigation; legal counsel typically advises silence to protect the instructor's legal position.
Question 5: A dive resort requires all instructors to carry their own professional liability insurance as a condition of employment. The primary reason for this policy is:
- To fulfill USCG requirements for dive vessels
- To protect the resort from bearing the full cost of instructor negligence claims (Correct answer)
- To meet PADI's minimum certification requirements
- To allow instructors to teach without a resort affiliation
Correct answer: To protect the resort from bearing the full cost of instructor negligence claims
By requiring instructors to carry their own professional liability coverage, the resort ensures that instructor-specific negligence claims are covered by the instructor's own insurer, limiting the resort's exposure.
Question 6: The PADI Standards for maximum depth during Open Water Diver training (18 m / 60 ft for training dives) function legally as:
- A suggestion that instructors may ignore at their discretion
- A defined standard of care that establishes the duty boundary in negligence cases (Correct answer)
- A criminal statute enforced by federal regulators
- A waivable guideline if the student requests deeper dives
Correct answer: A defined standard of care that establishes the duty boundary in negligence cases
Published PADI depth standards define the professional standard of care, and exceeding them without justification constitutes a clear breach of that standard in litigation.
Question 7: Which post-incident action is MOST important from a risk management and legal standpoint immediately after a serious dive accident?
- Immediately post a social media update describing what happened
- Secure and preserve all equipment, documentation, and witness information (Correct answer)
- Destroy any notes that could implicate the instructor
- Contact PADI to cancel the student's enrollment before filing a report
Correct answer: Secure and preserve all equipment, documentation, and witness information
Preserving physical evidence, written records, and witness contact information is critical for any subsequent investigation or legal proceeding.
PADI Risk Management and Liability 5
A PADI Open Water student's medical form reveals a history of spontaneous pneumothorax.
The correct risk management response is: