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Attitude toward risk

Or Being too complacent with high tech equipment

By André Lemaire, 2003

In a recent article published in a French magazine (SCIENCE & VIE) in February 2003, I read an interesting article about “Why alpine skiing is becoming more dangerous”. The author tells us that since ski equipment becomes more and more sophisticated, namely the boots, the injuries instead of decreasing have just changed from one place to another. This is the case for the legs where before, foot injuries were frequent. Now the knee gets wounded.

I have seen in this article a related matter with skydiving. Our equipment becomes also more sophisticated (full face helmets, computer audible altimeters, fast sport canopies, electronic AAD, helmet mounted digital cameras…) the injuries have changed too but in a different way than skiing. The change is not on the body itself but occurs on the categories of jumpers related to their level of experience.

The number of beginners who are injured has decreased a lot but experienced people seem to be more prone now to hurt themselves than before. I believe the problem has 2 facets. The equipment is probably one cause but coloured by the same kind of approach like the 4x4 SUV owners who think they are invulnerable and not removable from the road. Then, here comes the truth, the equipment is theoretically safer and more efficient, but maybe the attitude toward the new high tech equipment is faulty! The attitude! Where does the attitude toward the risk come from? How does it get built? Is that attitude innate or acquired? Who or what can improve it? As one can see, there are a lot of questions which do not have always easy or obvious answers.

We are doing a high risk activity and we have to integrate that concept. Skydiving manufacturers write on their warning notice: “may result in serious injury or death”.

It is quite obvious when practicing sport parachuting we have to tell to ourselves : “ I have some chance to die then since I don’t want it to happen , I get information, I practice, I observe proven methods, listen to people with experience and acquire knowledge as Kerrie Lynn and Aidan told us in the last Canpara issue”.

It is true for the techniques; it is also true for the equipment. But if we look around a little bit, one can see that attitude is not clear for everybody: lack of discipline under canopy, inadequate horizontal separation, free fall manoeuvres in group with not enough experience. These are all too common.

About the equipment, it is not really better: too loose closing loops, damaged grommets, frayed lines, unseen spread lines when doing the packing roll, worn rubber bands, worn Velcro …

One can see we are dealing too often with an actual attitude problem. We have very advanced equipment, several hundred of jumps without any problem and naïvely; we think we will have the same picture forever.

Gravity is treacherous, do not be too confident to it, if you have a lack of attention, if you are too complacent, it can get you in few seconds.

The DZ operators, instructors and coaches have a primordial role to play in that matter. Those have first to show the good example and go and talk in a benevolent way to the jumpers who have a wrong attitude toward safety or in need of a good reminder. The DZ should also organize several times per season, seminars on the safety and speaks about the subjects of the safety bulletins each rigger get from the association.

Prevention, eh, nothing is better! Nothing is more efficient!

Here are some old sayings:

• A jumper with an A CoP tells himself that there is a lot of things to know
• A jumper with a B CoP tells himself: “I think I know almost everything about skydiving”.
• A jumper with a C CoP tells himself that there are still quite a few things and skills to learn to become a good skydiver.
• A jumper with a D CoP is astonished to still be alive after so many adventures in the sky
• There is old skydivers who become a little bit crazy but there is no crazy people who become old skydivers
• As Murphy’s law says: If it can happen, it will .

Have the best jumps!

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