C8 - Risk Managment v2.0

C8: Risk Management
Molchanovs Instructor Course

Classroom Session 8
v2.0
Obligations as a Freedive
Professional
Chapter 4.2 in Molchanovs Instructor Standards
states:
‘It is the duty of the Molchanovs Instructor to conduct

a reasonable level of risk management to prevent
accidents and provide legal protection by proving to
have done everything necessary to avoid problems.’
• Instructor and student safety

• Legal protection
• Liability insurance
Risk Management
Identify and reduce or eliminate the risk of certain
kinds of events happening or having an impact on
you as a freediving professional.
Risk Assessment
A Molchanovs instructor should evaluate (assess):
• Which risks are present in a given situation
• The likelihood of the risks happening
• Possible outcomes
• Options to mitigate such risks
• Emergency Action Plan in case of an incident,
including evacuation procedures
Exercise: Risk Assessment
• Make a list of the top 5 risks in the location
where you will teach
Potential Risks
• Currents
• Water traffic
• Technical failure
• Weather
• Marine Life
• Etc.
Assessment – When?
Risk management should be conducted when
diving or teaching in a new destination or location,
or if conditions and the risk situation has
significantly changed since the last session.
Emergency Action Plan
For each teaching / training situation:
• Appropriate means of communication available: Cell phones
or radio (in areas without cell phone coverage), charged,
checked, and operable
• Clear advice for all people involved how to act in a given
emergency situation, including the communication process.
• Local phone numbers, map or directions, driving time,
distance and opening times for the closest emergency
facilities.
• Medical Emergency First Aid Kit, reasonably equipped for
local conditions
• Additional information and procedures depending on local
conditions
Instructor Health and Safety
Keep yourself safe first
• Follow surface interval recommendations at all times
• Teach only when you feel physically fit and mentally
ready
• Rinse your ears with 5% vinegar after each session (no
alcohol, no oils)
• Plan for rest-days (‘dry days’) if you teach longer
courses or when teaching in a busy freediving center
• Co-teach with an instructor with a higher certification
level and/or more experience
• Refuse to work with unsafe students / guests
Instructor Insurance
As a Molchanovs instructors you must maintain:
• Personal health insurance that covers freediving

• Valid professional liability insurance for teaching
freediving
Tip: Continue to carry liability insurance for a

period after you stop teaching, as cases may also
be filed later.
Liability Insurances
Employers liability insurance: For employees.
Compulsory in many countries.
Public liability insurance: Covers against legal

liability for accidental injury to other persons (other
than employees) or damage to the property of
other persons.
Exercise: Emergency Action Plan
Draft an Emergency Action Plan for each of the

top 5 risks of your future teaching location.
Molchanovs Incident Management
(1/2)
Reporting is an essential part of quality
management at Molchanovs Education.
The goal is to learn from every incident and learn

how standards, education, and instructor training
can be continuously improved.
Reports can be filed anonymously.
See Instructor Standards Chapter 4.1

Molchanovs Incident Management
(2/2)
Molchanovs instructors have a duty to report incidences via the
Molchanovs Dashboard such as:
• Student suffering from LMC in an unusual / unexpected situation

• Student suffering from a blackout
• Student getting injured in any way that keeps them from continuing
to freedive at least for three days, such as eardrum perforations /
ruptures, injuries of the sinuses or airways, etc.
– Exceptions are: Marine life injuries. These only need to be reported if there
is an interesting takeaway which should be incorporated into Molchanovs
Education.
• ‘Close calls’: Incidents that did not lead to an accident, but
presented an unexpected danger, such as failure of gear or
equipment.
• Etc.
Molchanovs Instructor Course
IMPORTANCE OF
MOLCHANOVS PAPERWORK
Molchanovs Paperwork
The following Molchanovs paperwork is
mandatory to be filled in:
• Medical Questionnaire
• Liability Release
• Course Completion Form
An essential part of risk management

Molchanovs Paperwork: Do!
• Check if you have the latest paperwork (see
Dashboard)
• Do not use forms from other agencies
• Check the age of the student
• Have all paperwork filled in before starting a
course
• Check if complete and signed
• Check if any alterations have been made
• If there are any alterations, have the student re-
do the corresponding paperwork
Molchanovs Course Completion
Form
Update:
• After every session
• …or latest at the end of the day
Helps:
• To manage large amounts of students
• Passing students on to other instructors
Sign:
• Every skill a student has passed (mastered)
• At the bottom before certification and archive
• Hand to student if the course is not finished.
Molchanovs Medical Questionnaire
• If a student ticks a YES, the student must

provide medical clearance!
• Do not guess or engage in medical discussions,
this can compromise your liability / insurance
coverage.
Molchanovs Liability Release
• Directs the student’s attention to their own
responsibility
• Students should check if their own insurance
also covers for freediving (some exempt
‘extreme sports’ and count freediving as such)
- If you conduct your courses by standards incl.

conducting an adequate risk management, you
maximize your degree of legal protection in
case of an accident.
Instructor-to-Student Ratios
Throughout a course, a Molchanovs instructor
must oversee all students directly or coordinate
overseeing with a qualified assistant instructor.
• Online 1:8
• Classroom 1 : Unlimited
• Pool 1:8
• Open Water 1:4
With a qualified assistant instructor, the ratio

can be extended by 50%.
Qualified Assistant Instructor
Prerequisites:
• Lap 3 certification (or equivalent) for classroom and

pool
• Wave 3 certification (or equivalent) for open water
• Must hold current public liability insurance
• T-certifications do not qualify a student to act as an
assistant instructor.
Supervision tasks only, no teaching allowed!

Teaching with an Assistant
A qualified assistant instructor can:
• Supervise students that are exercising

• Provide feedback to students (see ‘FEDOF’)
• Run pool training sessions without the presence
of the instructor after all skills have been
introduced by the instructor
See Instructor Standards Chapter 8.

Teaching OW with an Assistant
Instructor teaches a skill on buoy A, while the
assistant instructor supervises the students on
buoy B.
Instructor and assistant then swap positions.
Instructor teaches the same skill on buoy B while

the assistant supervises the students exercising
on buoy A.
Credits and Copyright
© 2022 Molchanovs
Reprint (also in parts) by permission only
Written by Oli Christen

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C8: Risk Management

Molchanovs Instructor Course

‘It is the duty of the Molchanovs Instructor to conduct

• Instructor and student safety

• Personal health insurance that covers freediving

Tip: Continue to carry liability insurance for a

Public liability insurance: Covers against legal

Draft an Emergency Action Plan for each of the

The goal is to learn from every incident and learn

Reports can be filed anonymously.

See Instructor Standards Chapter 4.1

• Student suffering from LMC in an unusual / unexpected situation

An essential part of risk management

• If a student ticks a YES, the student must

- If you conduct your courses by standards incl.

With a qualified assistant instructor, the ratio

• Lap 3 certification (or equivalent) for classroom and

Supervision tasks only, no teaching allowed!

• Supervise students that are exercising

See Instructor Standards Chapter 8.

Instructor and assistant then swap positions.

Instructor teaches the same skill on buoy B while

Written by Oli Christen

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