Britain's diving industry needs to act against the substandard equipment servicing highlighted in a recent Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report. That is the view of diving industry insiders after DIVE's special report on the survey, which was featured last month (HSE raises fears over regulators).

For its report, HSE technicians evaluated equipment associated with 46 diving deaths that took place between 2000 and 2003 in the UK. In total, 60 regulators were tested, including some from the buddies of people who had died. Of these, 28 regulators failed the European test, due to a lack of correct servicing, corrosion or incorrect setup. The report stated that poor servicing might have been behind some of the fatalities, and readers have been contacting DIVE to ask for advice on good-quality servicing.

So, what makes the difference between a good service centre and a bad one?
We asked David Bridgman of Mike's in Cambridge, who is noted for his equipment servicing. 'It's not easy for the average diver to spot a bad servicing centre, but I would urge people to avoid any outlet that claims to be able to service a regulator in a couple of hours. As far as I am concerned, the process should take at least three days.'

Why so long? Bridgman operates a three-level system in which regulators are subject to an overall view, and a chart of the configuration is drawn up before the rig is dismantled, for an initial report.

In the second level, the regulator is cleaned twice in Biox, then rinsed and left to dry overnight. The third stage sees the regulator tested in a swimming pool, and a technician who was not involved in the actual servicing makes a final assessment.

For Bridgman, the way to improve servicing across-the-board would be for manufacturers to take a greater interest in servicing. 'We can look after things here by having a good system and an auditable paper trail, but I'd like to see the manufacturers taking a closer look at servicing, and I don't think there's any harm in HSE participation.'

Still, there are many who think the manufacturers already have a significant influence on testing. Andy Shears, UK sales manager of Scubapro/UWATEC operates a certificate system for his authorised technicians, and advises divers to ensure that their chosen centre has someone qualified to service their regulators.

'Generally, most people want to do it the right way. But there are some out there who are not up to date but think they can nevertheless service regulators,' Shears said. 'People who avoid the HSE and who do not keep up to date with regulator servicing courses are not doing the job right, and I think people should know about it.'

Shears has suggested a set of standards for the people who service diving equipment for a living, including a generic servicing course and an apprenticeship scheme, but at least one manufacturer has devised an even more direct way of controlling its servicing.

Oceanic UK currently runs a system in which it offers a lifetime warranty on regulators and BCs, as long as owners get the regulators serviced within 30 days of an annual service date. Under Oceanic's system, you use one of 60 authorised service centres and the parts are provided free of charge - you only have to pay for the labour.

The scheme is currently used by 17,344 UK divers, a healthy number which suggests that in the final analysis, 'people power' is the strongest way of ensuring high standards.