Sanctioned Fife diving instructor makes series of health and safety improvements following man’s death

A diving instructor who was sanctioned following a man’s death in Fife has made a series of safety improvements.

Mark Blythe’s firm the Dive Bunker, in Burntisland, was given four notices by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after the incident at Kinghorn in April.

Les Elder, 45, was rescued from the water during a large emergency operation.

The scuba diver, from Saline, was later confirmed to have died following the incident.

He was described by relatives as a “much-loved family man”.

In the wake of the incident, HSE demanded that the firm make a number of improvements – highlighting failings in the company’s operations on the day of the fatal incident.

Findings included:

• There were not enough people with the right qualifications and competence to carry out the dive safely
• No first aiders with in-date training were present
• There was no in-water rescue diver
• No suitable or sufficient equipment or device to help with emergency recovery was present
• The ladder on the boat was not designed to recover an unresponsive casualty.

HSE said Mr Blythe breached the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Diving at Work Regulations 1997.

Instructor had no medical fitness certificate

Meanwhile, HSE also found one of the instructors did not have a valid medical fitness certificate to dive.

The authority said this was a risk to the instructor and others on the trip.

It also said Mr Blythe’s diving plan was not based on an adequate risk assessment.

The notice read: “You do not have a system in place that ensures, so far as is reasonably practicable, the diving project is planned, managed and conducted in a manner that protects the health and safety of all persons taking part in the project, in that, your diving project plan is not based on an adequate risk assessment.

“The risk assessment does not address the management and control of the diving project, including the management of a foreseeable emergency.”

HSE has confirmed to The Courier that the improvement notices have been complied with as of this month.

The Crown Office says the incident will be fully considered by its Health and Safety Investigations Unit, once the HSE probe has been completed.

The family of Mr Elder say they do not want to comment on the HSE case.

Mr Blythe did not respond to a request for comment.