These cover the things you must do (in bold) and also some advice from me on good practice when organizing and running a trip. If you think of anything else which you think should be included, send me an email. It's probably worthwhile talking to other members of the Club to see if they can recommend a previously visited Site, or indeed somewhere they have always wanted to visit. Have a look round the OUUEG WebSite for ideas. Check out the BSAC Travel Club WebSite, or the BSAC Travel Club "Trip Reports" WebSite. Another good source of inspiration can be Diver magazine, or the Diver Magazine WebSite.
Happy diving,
Steve Armitage - Diving Officer - OUUEG

Sections

1) Required Actions during Trip Planning & before departure
2) Required Actions during the Trip
3) Required Actions upon return
4) Extras

1) Before you leave

a. You must inform the DO (Luke) of your plans before the Trip leaves. Getting my agreement is mostly a formality but you do need that rubberstamp and sometimes I may have useful ideas or advice on how you can change your plans to make the Trip safer, more fun, cheaper, or simply better. It’s up to you when you get around to informing me but I suggest the earlier the better.

b. You must inform Sports Fed by filling in & submitting a copy of the Sports Fed Trip Registration Form

c. For travel abroad, you must carry out a specific Sports Fed Risk Assessment and leave a copy with the Senior Member.

d. If you plan to use the Club Boat, you must check with the Boat Officer to make sure the Boat is available on the dates you intend to go. You will be required to identify a Trip participant as being responsible for the Boat. Also make sure you get a copy of the two Boat Check Lists, for before and after diving. These are posted in a number of places including the ‘Extras' section below.

e. You must keep receipts for all expenses

f. When advertising the Trip, be sure that you state clearly whether you require a deposit and under what circumstances the deposit will be refunded. I suggest you follow my Deposit Guidelines which are in the ‘Extras’ section.

g. Be clear about to whom the Trip is open. i.e. Sport Divers and above, or open to all. Also if the diving on the Trip requires special equipment which cannot be borrowed from the Cub, let people know. For example if you’re planning a night dive, people will need torches etc. Also if the Trip includes non-OUUEG members and is a Club Trip (see Extras for a definition) then the non-members must become an OUUEG member either via annual or day Membership. And finally, all people on the Trip must have adequate insurance. This is usually provided by proving current membership of BSAC. For non-BSAC members, please check that this is so.

h. As people are signing up for your Trip, keep an idea of everyone’s qualifications so that you know in advance if there is going to be a problem. Things to consider - are there enough Boat Handlers, Dive Marshals, Instructors, good buddy pairs?

i. Create an Emergency Folder containing all the information you’ll need if things go horribly wrong and take it with you. This should include phone numbers for the DO and President, phone numbers for Decompression Emergencies, Safe Diving Practise Manual, University Accident Report Forms, Next of Kin details etc. See the ‘Extras’ section for a full list and more guidance.

2) During the Trip

a. On each day of diving someone must be the Dive Marshal. The Dive Marshal is responsible for the safety of the people diving that day. Don’t forget about this, it is crucially important!! The Dive Marshal looks after the emergency folder and should have a deputy if he/she is planning to dive – so that there is always someone responsible for safety on the surface.

b. Remember that the Dive Marshall must record details of all dives. The full list is on the Marshalling Sheets, also in the ‘Extras' section.

c. Make sure any training completed is recorded and pass records on to the DO and Training Officer

d. If anything does go wrong, please, please, please make sure that records are kept. This includes damage to the boat or club equipment or third parties as well as injuries or near-misses.

3) After the Trip

a. You must speak to the DO. There are a few things I will want to know about. Firstly that everyone is back safely, plus details of any incidents or near-misses that you might have had,or any equipment or boat problems. I will also want to know if you have any advice for future trips going to the same place.

b. You must pass on the records you have kept to the appropriate people. Dive records go to the DO, training records to the training officer, etc.

c. You must contact the Boat Officer and confirm with them that the maintenance mentioned on the boat checklist has been done.

d. You must contact the Equipment Officer to return any Club kit borrowed or hired, and to report any equipment problems

e. Write a trip report and pass it to the Web Officer accompanied by some excellent photos.

4) Extras

a. Club Boat Check List (Information to follow)

b. Deposit Guidelines. The reason for charging members deposits is so that there is a financial commitment to come on the Trip, to be less likely to pull out ,and also to cover the Trip organiser's up front costs, so that if members subsequently do pull out then the organiser is not left to carry the financial can! So with this in mind, a couple of tips

Make sure the deposits you request will ensure that you don’t end up out of pocket if members do pull out etc.

Make sure that you clearly state to members under what circumstances they will get a refund of their deposit (for example if theOUUEG guidelines set out below apply).

Make sure that you keep an accurate record of who has paid how much, plus how muchis still outstanding, and link this to the costs of the Trip so that everything is very transparent.

Deposits should be refunded if the Trip is cancelled by the Trip organizer

If a Trip member drops out of a Trip he or she will lose therir deposit unless the place can be filled with another diver.

If the Trip organizer finds another diver to fill a space, this diver can then be introduced to the member who has had to drop out, and then the Trip can proceed as if the trip member had found the new diver.

When a Trip member finds another diver to fill their space, the Trip organizer has veto rights on whether the new diver is acceptable. (Grounds for veto could be anything but might typically be that the ireplacement diveris not dived-up, is unknown to the Cub, or not suitably qualified for the dives being planned.)

The new diver would then pay the original Trip member all, part, or none of the deposit, and assumes their place on the Trip (the Trip organizer not being involved in this financial transaction).

c. Definition of a ‘Club Trip’

Virtually all Trips organized within the Club are defined as Club Trips, as any Trips involving the use of Club equipment (including the Boat) are ipso facto deemed to be Club Trips.

Any Trip advertised on the Club eMail list and organized by a Club member is a Club Trip

d. Trip Emergency Folder (Information to follow)

e. Marshalling and Training Record Sheets (Information to follow)